RAMALLAH, Palestine

More than 500 illegal Israeli settlements and outposts are spread across the occupied West Bank, with settlement-related measures affecting roughly 42% of the territory, a Palestinian government report said.

The report was issued by the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission to mark the anniversary of Land Day, observed annually on March 30. The occasion commemorates events in 1976 when Israel confiscated large areas of land from Arab citizens, sparking protests that left dozens killed and wounded.

Settlement expansion

More than 780,000 Israeli occupiers live in 542 illegal settlements and outposts across the West Bank, according to the report. These include 192 settlements and 350 outposts, more than 165 of which were established after October 2023, including 59 outposts in 2025 alone.

Israeli planning bodies have reviewed 390 structural plans for settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since Oct. 7, 2023, alongside decisions to establish the largest possible number of settlements at 54 sites, the commission said.

Displacement and demolitions

Occupier attacks have become a "functional tool to reshape geography in the West Bank, particularly in Bedouin and agricultural communities," the report said, adding that escalating violence carried out "under security and political cover" has displaced at least 79 Palestinian Bedouin communities, either partially or entirely, affecting 814 families and more than 4,700 people.

Israeli authorities have also issued more than 1,800 demolition orders for Palestinian structures during the same period, including 991 in 2025 alone.

Control over land

Settlements exercise full control over more than 42% of the occupied West Bank, the commission said. About 61% of the territory falls under Area C, as defined by the 1995 Oslo II Accord, where Israel maintains full civil and security control, with more than 70% of that land subject to settlement-related classifications including "state land," nature reserves, and military training zones.

About 15% of the West Bank has been declared "state land," much of it allocated for settlement expansion, in addition to 18% designated as military training areas. Settlement construction and jurisdiction areas cover about 12.4% of the West Bank, while settlement roads account for more than 3% of the territory and contribute to geographic fragmentation.

Some 925 permanent and temporary checkpoints are in place across the West Bank, splitting the territory and restricting the movement of people and goods, the report added.

Since Oct. 8, 2023, Israeli aggressions in the West Bank have killed 1,138 Palestinians, injured about 11,700 others, and led to around 22,000 arrests.

The conflict dates back to 1948, when Israel was established on land taken during the war that displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, with disputes over territory and statehood remaining unresolved.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul