RAMALLAH, July 11, 2026 (WAFA) – The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said Israeli authorities have issued 49 military orders for the takeover of land since the beginning of 2026 under the guise of security, targeting a total of 2,093 dunums of Palestinian-owned land.

In a position paper released on Saturday, the commission said the orders do not formally transfer land ownership from Palestinian owners but impose broad restrictions on land use by requiring the removal or pruning of trees and vegetation, restricting access and preventing replanting. It said the measures amount to de facto control over the land while ownership remains legally unchanged.

According to the commission, the orders are issued on the grounds of military and security needs in areas adjacent to Israeli colonies, bypass roads, the separation wall, checkpoints and military sites. It argued, however, that their geographic distribution indicates they are being used to expand control around colonial infrastructure and secure movement for Israeli colonists.

The commission said the number of such orders issued during the first half of 2026 exceeded the total for all of 2025. It said Israeli authorities issued 47 orders covering 1,613 dunums throughout 2025, compared with 49 orders targeting 2,093 dunums during the first six months of 2026, an increase of about 30 percent in the affected area.

The paper said many of the orders were concentrated along roads used by Israeli colonists, including Routes 35, 354, 449, 60 and 356, as well as around Israeli colonies including Ariel, Modi'in Illit, Mevo Horon and Eli.

The commission warned that the impact of the orders extends beyond the areas directly affected, saying they can restrict Palestinian access to larger areas of agricultural land, create new security buffer zones and limit farming and grazing activities.

It also said some of the targeted land had previously been designated by Israeli authorities as so-called "state land," arguing that the combination of military orders, land classifications, access restrictions and tree removal forms part of a broader system of control over Palestinian land.

The commission said the military orders should be viewed as part of a wider policy that includes settlement planning, land seizure measures and attacks by Israeli colonists, aimed at expanding Israeli control over land surrounding colonies and related infrastructure.

M.N