Ramallah / Qais Abu Samra / Anadolu

The Palestinian Commission against the Wall and Settlement said on Tuesday that the Israeli army issued 7 military orders for 'hand over land' on Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank over the past week, to dig security roads and create areas serving settlements.

This came in a statement by the commission, after the Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate announced the issuance of an Israeli order to temporarily hand over 5 dunams and 283 square meters of land in the town of Jaba', north of occupied Jerusalem, to dig a settlement road.

The commission explained that the total area of Palestinian lands included in the seven military orders amounted to 89 dunams and 514 square meters in Ramallah, Jerusalem, and Nablus governorates, with a total length of approximately 17.6 kilometers, according to the statement.

It confirmed that these orders were allocated to dig new security roads or complete buffer zones around settlements and outposts.

It considered that the increase in issuing these military orders reflects a 'clear shift' in the use of 'hand over land' orders, from measures that Israel claims are temporary and related to military needs, to a fixed tool for developing infrastructure for the settlement project.

It stressed that the targeted roads connect existing settlements to outposts, secure settler movement, and expand security influence zones around settlements, thereby enhancing their existence and paving the way for their future expansion.

It added that the Israeli authorities use 'military cover' to legitimize facts imposed by settlers in advance, by converting routes they began digging or used into official military roads, which deprives Palestinians of access to their lands and imposes permanent restrictions on their use.

It pointed out that these developments come as an extension of the increase in 'hand over land' orders witnessed during this year, which have increasingly focused on digging security roads, as one of the tools of 'creeping annexation,' re-engineering Palestinian geography, and enhancing geographical connectivity between settlements and outposts.

In a previous statement, the Jerusalem Governorate considered 'hand over land' orders an Israeli tool to impose new facts on the ground, by controlling Palestinian lands and expanding the road network linked to settlements, thus enhancing the isolation of Palestinian communities from their geographical surroundings.

In June last year, the semi-annual report issued by the commission for 2026 stated that Israeli authorities issued 40 'hand over land' orders for military purposes since the beginning of the year, targeting 611 dunams of Palestinian lands, leading to the establishment of 4 buffer zones around settlements, digging 16 security roads, setting up 12 military sites, in addition to other military uses.

Palestinian authorities say that Israel continues to expand settlements and dig bypass roads in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as part of a policy aimed at entrenching control over Palestinian lands and undermining opportunities for establishing a geographically contiguous Palestinian state.

According to international law, Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal, while the United Nations affirms that settlement constitutes a violation of international law and an obstacle to achieving peace.

Parallel to settlement expansion, the West Bank has witnessed since October 2023 an escalation in attacks by the Israeli army and settlers, resulting in the killing of 1,181 Palestinians and the injury of about 13,000, in addition to the arrest of nearly 24,000 Palestinians.