Awad Rjoob and Betul Yilmaz
20 October 2025•Update: 21 October 2025
RAMALLAH, Palestine/ISTANBUL
Israel has seized over 70,000 square meters of land in the Nablus governorate, in the northern occupied West Bank, according to a report.
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said on Sunday that the Israeli army seized 70 dunams, 147 square meters (one dunam equals 1,000 square meters) of land in the Nablus governorate under “a military and security seizure order” issued for several Nablus villages.
The move is aimed at establishing a buffer zone around the Eli settlement in the area, the commission said.
The report revealed that the Israeli authorities published the order after the expiration of the objection period, which lasts only a week.
A total of 53 military seizure orders have been issued by Israel to expand control over the occupied West Bank since the beginning of 2025, the commission said.
According to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, Israel has built at least 710 settlements and military outposts in the occupied West Bank, an average of one settlement every 8 square kilometers, since 1967.
The international community, including the UN, considers the Israeli settlements illegal under international law. The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
In an advisory 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.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army continued to carry out military raids across the West Bank over the weekend.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said in a statement that its teams transferred a 37-year-old man to the hospital after he was hit in the thigh by a live bullet in Ramallah.
No further details were provided regarding his medical condition.
Local authorities said that more than 1,051 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, around 10,300 wounded, and over 20,000 arrested, including 1,600 children, since the Gaza war began two years ago.
