Israel Seizes West Bank Land as Settler Militarization Grows
Israel issued new military orders to seize Palestinian land while an investigation reveals settlers frequently use military uniforms to carry out attacks and displacements.
The Government of Israel issued four military orders to seize approximately 165 dunams of Palestinian land across the northern West Bank, including Qalqilya, Nablus, Tubas, and the northern Jordan Valley. These orders authorize the creation of buffer zones around illegal settlement outposts and the expansion of settlement roads. Since October 2023, Israel has seized or controlled roughly 64,000 dunams through 231 military orders, while a new illegal outpost was recently established in the Humsa area near Hebron.
Parallel to these seizures, an Al Jazeera investigation found that Israeli settlers frequently operate as soldiers, utilizing military uniforms and weapons to conduct land seizures and mass displacements. This overlap is structurally supported by the Israeli Defense Forces through the Hagmar Regional Defence battalions, which have expanded sixfold since 2023 and consist largely of settler reserves. The report notes that 14 of 63 Palestinians killed by settlers since October 7, 2023, were shot by individuals in military uniforms.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has issued at least 120,000 civilian weapon licenses to settlers under the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Human rights organization Yesh Din reports a systemic lack of accountability, stating that 93.6 percent of settler criminal cases opened by police since 2005 were closed without indictments.
