Israeli occupation allocates billions to settlement roads, entrenching annexation in West Bank
QUDS, May 10 (YPA) – The Israeli occupation’s government has been continuing to fast-track settlement expansion projects across the occupied West Bank by expanding bypass road networks linking settlements to each other and to areas inside Israeli entity’s 1948 territories, in what Palestinians describe as a move aimed at deepening annexation policies and isolating Palestinian communities geographically and demographically.
In a new report, the National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements revealed that Israeli authorities have allocated more than one billion additional shekels for new bypass roads designed to support settlement expansion and strengthen settlement infrastructure.
According to the bureau’s weekly report covering May 2–8, Israeli occupation’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Transport Minister Miri Regev approved an additional 1.075 billion shekels for settlement road projects under the 2026–2028 state budget.
The report noted that the new funding comes on top of seven billion shekels already allocated to settlement road projects, reflecting what it described as massive Israeli investment in infrastructure serving settlements. It added that settlement roads now account for nearly 30 percent of the total roads budget, despite settlers representing only around 3 percent of Israel’s population.
The bureau said the projects form part of a broader policy pursued since the current Israeli government took office in late 2022, focusing on linking settlements directly to Israel while bypassing Palestinian towns and villages.
Among the major projects cited were the Huwwara bypass road, the Al-Arroub bypass road, the Qalandia tunnel, the Nabi Elias bypass road, the eastern ring road around Jerusalem, and the expansion of Route 60 running through the West Bank from north to south.
The report stated that the occupation’s authorities have constructed more than 952 kilometers of bypass roads in recent years, contributing to what it described as shrinking opportunities for Palestinian urban and economic development.
Alongside the road projects, the Israeli military’s Supreme Planning Council is reviewing plans for 643 new settlement units across several West Bank settlements.
The report said the pace of approvals reflects a growing push to accelerate settlement activity, particularly in the northern West Bank, including areas that have not seen settlement expansion in more than two decades.
It added that plans for 517 units in the settlements of Masua and Mahania Gadi in the northern Jordan Valley raise the total number of settlement units approved or under review this year to 3,732, including around 1,338 units in the settlement of Kedumim, where Smotrich resides.
According to the report, Mahania Gadi was among several settlement outposts granted official Israeli recognition in July 2024 after being transformed into formal settlements.
The bureau further stated that more than 100 settlements, outposts, and pastoral farms have been approved since the formation of the current Israeli government, describing the current year as a major turning point in settlement expansion policies.
AA