Hebrew sources revealed that the Israeli army’s Supreme Planning Council will discuss next Wednesday the approval of the construction of 855 settlement units in the settlements of Givat Ze’ev (northwest of occupied Jerusalem), Kfar Tapuah (northeast of Salfit) in the northern West Bank, Talmon (northwest of Ramallah) in the center, and Ma’ale Amos (south of Bethlehem).
The Israeli Peace Movement, which monitors Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, stated that since the beginning of December 2024, the Supreme Planning Council has been holding weekly discussions to approve additional settlement units in the settlements.
In a statement yesterday, it added that the move to approve settlement plans on a weekly basis not only normalizes construction in the Palestinian territories, but also intensifies it.
It noted that since the beginning of 2025, with plans scheduled to be approved next week, the Supreme Planning Council has succeeded in building 15,190 settlement units in less than four months, noting that this is a record number compared to previous years.
For comparison, the movement stated that the previous record year was 2023, with 12,349 settlement units built that year.
Peace Now reported that the Supreme Planning Council, which is responsible for approving settlement plans, holds weekly meetings to advance plans to build settlement units in the settlements, instead of holding them four times a year and approving the construction of thousands of settlement units at once.
It added, warning: This shift toward approving plans on a weekly basis not only legitimizes construction in the occupied territories, but also strengthens it, attracting less public and international attention and criticism.
According to the Peace Now movement, the number of settlers in the West Bank at the end of 2024 reached approximately 770,000, distributed across 180 settlements and 256 outposts, including 138 outposts classified as pastoral and agricultural.
