New settlement plan draws a different map for the northern West Bank

The National Office for the Defense of the Land reveals a broad Israeli settlement plan aimed at establishing a settlement bloc extending from east to west, separating the northern West Bank from its center and south, by linking settlements and outposts with a network of roads and axes, turning Palestinian cities and villages into isolated enclaves.

The National Office for the Defense of the Land and Resistance to Settlement reveals a broad Israeli settlement plan aimed at establishing a settlement bloc extending from east to west, leading to the separation of the northern West Bank from its center and south. The Shomron Settlements Council, headed by Yossi Dagan, is working on this plan in coordination with the Settlement Agriculture Union, and they have published maps of the bloc being created in the area between the northern and central West Bank. The maps cover the area around the Qana settlement bloc (Gush Qana), which is being linked to a series of settlements and outposts including Ariel and Emmanuel in Salfit, and Yitzhar in Nablus. The settlement strip begins from the Yitzhar settlement in the east and extends westward through sites in the vicinity of Wadi Qana, reaching Emmanuel, Karnei Shomron, Yakir, and Nofim, connecting to the broader settlement bloc surrounding Ariel. The office warns that the completion of this strip will sever the geographical connection between the northern and central West Bank, turning Palestinian cities and villages into isolated and besieged enclaves, by imposing a settlement ring around the governorates of Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya, and Salfit, undermining opportunities for Palestinian urban expansion and economic and agricultural development. The plan is being implemented through a system that includes the political level in the occupation government and settlement movements, in addition to the cabinet, ministries of finance, the military, and the Civil Administration under the occupation army, which issues land seizure notices. The project's components were discussed in secret cabinet sessions and approved during three separate sessions in 2026. In a related context, the occupation authorities published an amendment to the blue line of the Keddah settlement, established east of Shilo on lands belonging to the village of Jalud south of Nablus, adding about 178 dunams, following the cabinet's decision in December 2025 to recognize Keddah as a new settlement.