JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL 

Israel’s Ministry of Construction and Housing has issued two tenders to build 356 settlement units in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli anti-settlement group said Wednesday.

The Peace Now movement, which monitors settlement activity in the West Bank, said in a statement that two tenders were published for the construction of a new settlement neighborhood in the Geva Binyamin settlement, southeast of Ramallah.

The first tender covers 342 housing units across five residential complexes, while the second includes 14 homes designated for reserve soldiers, the movement said.

It noted that an additional tender was published for a residential complex in the Giv'on HaHadasha settlement, south of Ramallah, on Nov. 2.

“Since the beginning of 2025, tenders for building 5,667 housing units in settlements have been published – a record-breaking figure, roughly 50% higher than the previous peak year of 2018, when tenders were issued for 3,808 units,” it said.

“If the tenders published this year are implemented, the new homes will add nearly 25,000 settlers to the West Bank,” it added.

Peace Now accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of “exploiting every moment in power to destroy Israel’s chances for a future of peace and prosperity,” warning that the expansion of settlements “only deepens the pit Israel must eventually climb out of.”

“While US President Donald Trump declared that there will be no annexation (of the West Bank), the Israeli government is doing everything to realize annexation on the ground and turn Israel into an apartheid state.”

On Oct. 24, Trump told reporters not to worry, saying Israel is “not going to do anything with the West Bank.”

His remarks came a day after the Israeli Knesset (parliament) passed in a preliminary reading two bills to annex the occupied West Bank and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement, a move that would isolate East Jerusalem and divide the West Bank into two separate areas.

The UN has repeatedly affirmed that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law, warning that they undermine prospects for a two-state solution.

Palestinians insist on East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, based on international resolutions that do not recognize Israel’s 1967 occupation or its 1980 annexation of the city.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.