Israeli authorities have unveiled plans to construct 2,300 new housing units to expand the Gilo settlement, located on Palestinian land in the southwestern part of occupied East Jerusalem. According to the Jerusalem-based non-profit organization Ir Amim, this project is a significant step toward further isolating occupied East Jerusalem from Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.
The construction is slated to take place on land confiscated under the Absentees' Property Law. Ir Amim reported that at least 6.9 acres of the land involved were seized from Palestinian owners and reclassified as "state land" to facilitate the expansion. The organization warned that the total area of expropriated land could increase, as dozens of dunams within the project area are currently listed as having "unknown ownership." Furthermore, the designated site contains ancient olive groves, some of which are decades old, serving as evidence of private Palestinian ownership. The group noted that the project will likely require the destruction of these trees once work begins.
This initiative follows broader efforts by the Israeli government to consolidate control over land in the occupied West Bank. In February, authorities announced procedures to register land in Area C under the state's name using the Absentees' Property Law, which allows for such registration if Palestinians cannot provide official documentation of ownership. Hassan Breijieh, head of the International Law Department at the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, previously characterized these measures as a systematic expropriation of Palestinian land intended to facilitate its transfer to Israeli occupiers, threatening vast swaths of unregistered territory.
The scale of settlement activity remains high, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announcing in late June that the government has established 160 illegal settlement farms and approved over 100 new illegal settlements. The United Nations and the majority of the international community consider all Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian territory to be illegal under international law, arguing they undermine the possibility of a two-state solution. Current estimates from the Peace Now movement suggest there are approximately 500,000 illegal settlers in the West Bank and another 250,000 in occupied East Jerusalem. For Palestinians, these ongoing projects represent an aggressive policy aimed at expanding illegal settlements, seizing property, and creating irreversible facts on the ground.
