Qais Omar Darwesh and Lina Altawell
21 July 2026•Update: 21 July 2026
Israeli authorities issued a military order to temporarily seize 5,283 square meters (5.28 dunams) of land in the town of Jaba, north of occupied East Jerusalem, in an attempt to impose new facts on the ground, the Jerusalem Governorate said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the governorate said the order covers a 725-meter-long plot in the areas of Al-Muntar, Ras al-Marj and Shaab al-Ghuzoul in Jaba, and will remain in effect until Dec. 31, 2028.
It said the Israeli order was part of a plan to build a settlement road extending from Route 60 near the Jaba checkpoint to the separation wall near the illegal Neve Yaakov settlement.
“Israeli seizure orders are used to impose new facts on the ground by taking control of Palestinian land and expanding road networks linked to settlements,” the governorate said.
“The settlement road projects are tied to de facto annexation plans and efforts to connect illegal settlements with occupied Jerusalem at the expense of Palestinian land,” it added.
Palestinian authorities say Israel continues to expand illegal settlements and build bypass roads in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to consolidate control over Palestinian land and undermine the possibility of a geographically contiguous Palestinian state.
Under international law, Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory are illegal, while the UN says settlement activity violates international law and remains an obstacle to peace.
About 750,000 occupiers live in 141 illegal settlements and 224 outposts across the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, where they carry out attacks aimed at forcibly displacing Palestinians.
Alongside illegal settlement expansion, the West Bank has seen escalating attacks by the Israeli army and occupiers since October 2023, killing 1,181 Palestinians, injuring around 13,000 and leading to the arrest of nearly 24,000.
