Report: Settlement Road Network Used to Consolidate Annexation and Reshape the Geography of the West Bank

 

GHLands : The National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its weekly report that the Israeli government continues to use the settlement road network as one of its primary tools for reshaping the geography of the occupied West Bank. According to the report, the strategy aims to connect settlements, settlement outposts, and pastoral outposts through an extensive transportation network while simultaneously isolating Palestinian communities and restricting their territorial expansion and freedom of movement.

The report explained that Israeli authorities continue to allocate substantial budgets for the construction of hundreds of kilometers of bypass, security, and access roads designated for settlers. These projects are accompanied by the confiscation of thousands of dunams of Palestinian land and the establishment of buffer zones along the roads, reinforcing geographic fragmentation and turning Palestinian towns and villages into isolated enclaves.

According to the report, the road network allows settlers to travel quickly and freely between settlements and Israeli cities, while forcing Palestinians to rely on longer and more complicated alternative routes. It described this policy as part of a broader strategy to strengthen Israel's control over the territory by prioritizing infrastructure that serves the settlement enterprise.

The report added that the settlement road system extends beyond transportation infrastructure, forming part of an integrated security and settlement framework. The roads are equipped with advanced infrastructure, including lighting and surveillance systems, while Palestinian road networks continue to suffer from inadequate services and limited development.

In the same context, the report noted that the Israeli government is considering approving a new plan worth more than one billion shekels to expand road infrastructure serving more than 100 settlements and 160 pastoral outposts across the West Bank. The funding is expected to be divided between Israel's Ministry of Transportation and the military to support infrastructure projects linked to settlement expansion.

According to Israeli media reports, the plan also includes infrastructure upgrades for the four settlements previously evacuated in the northern West Bank—Homesh, Sanur, Ganim, and Kadim—as well as additional existing and planned settlements.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also oversees settlement affairs in the West Bank, described the initiative as a "historic decision," saying it would strengthen what he referred to as Israel's security while advancing settlement expansion.

The report further stated that the years 2024 and 2025, along with the first half of 2026, witnessed a significant acceleration in bypass road construction, particularly along Route 60 and in the road networks surrounding Jerusalem and Ramallah. Additional projects have connected settlements across the northern, central, and southern West Bank as part of a broader policy aimed at linking major settlement blocs while fragmenting Palestinian territorial continuity.

It added that at least 223 kilometers of new roads have been constructed during this period to serve settlements, alongside dozens of military orders authorizing land seizures under security-related pretexts. These measures have resulted in the confiscation of thousands of dunams of agricultural land.

The report also noted that these infrastructure projects have coincided with the continued expansion of settlement outposts and pastoral outposts. During 2025 alone, more than 60 new pastoral outposts were established, accompanied by the construction of hundreds of kilometers of dirt and bypass roads with official government support. According to the report, these roads are intended to consolidate control over open areas and integrate them into the broader settlement network.

It further highlighted that the Israeli government signed a framework agreement last week worth 8.5 billion shekels to finance settlement projects, including the construction of approximately 12,000 new housing units, as well as major investments in infrastructure, transportation networks, and public services across several West Bank settlements. Israeli media described the agreement as marking the transition from planning to immediate implementation.

The report also referred to the Israeli authorities' decision to upgrade the status of the Givat Ze'ev settlement, northwest of Jerusalem, from a local council to a city. It said the move would grant the settlement broader planning and administrative powers, facilitate urban expansion, and encourage additional settlers to move there, further strengthening Israeli control around Jerusalem.

The report documented continued violations across the occupied West Bank, including settler attacks against Palestinians and their property, the bulldozing of agricultural land, the uprooting of olive trees, the establishment of new settlement outposts, the demolition of Palestinian homes and structures, the expansion of settlement roads, and the imposition of further restrictions on Palestinian access to their land. It concluded that these measures form part of a broader policy aimed at entrenching settlement control and reshaping the geographic reality of the occupied West Bank.