JERUSALEM, August 11, 2026 (WAFA) — The Jerusalem Governorate warned of the dangers posed by a new settlement plan to expand the Gilo settlement south of occupied East Jerusalem, which includes the construction of around 2,300 settlement units on approximately 195 dunams of land.

The governorate described the plan as a dangerous escalation in Israel’s settlement and gradual annexation policies, warning that it seeks to alter Jerusalem’s identity and geographic and demographic reality while further isolating East Jerusalem from Bethlehem and the southern West Bank.

The governorate said the filing of Plan No. 1284223 by what is known as the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee on July 28 comes as part of a series of settlement projects being implemented or planned around Jerusalem. These projects, it said, aim to establish a continuous settlement belt that cuts Palestinian geographic contiguity around Jerusalem and prevents natural territorial continuity between the city, Bethlehem and the southern West Bank.

It stressed that the planned expansion of Gilo southward toward the vicinity of Route 60, alongside construction and expansion in the Givat Hamatos and Har Homa settlements, represents another link in a broader settlement project aimed at encircling East Jerusalem with settlements and severing its Palestinian surroundings.

The governorate also cited an analysis by Ir Amim indicating that Palestinian-owned land included in the plan had been seized and classified under Israel’s so-called Absentees’ Property Law. It warned that this raises serious concerns and demonstrates the continued use of Israeli legal mechanisms to facilitate the seizure of Palestinian land and its incorporation into settlement projects.

The Jerusalem Governorate stressed that East Jerusalem is occupied Palestinian territory under international law, and that Israeli measures seeking to alter its character, demographic composition, seize its land or unlawfully annex it do not confer any rights or sovereignty over the territory and do not alter the city’s legal status.

It noted that the targeted lands were historically part of agricultural lands belonging to the city of Beit Jala, with orchards and longstanding olive trees serving as a living testament to the land’s connection to its Palestinian owners. The governorate warned that implementation of the plan could lead to the uprooting of these trees and the destruction of Palestinian agricultural land for settlement expansion.

The governorate said settlement activity in Jerusalem is not merely an urban development project, but a political and geographic tool aimed at redrawing the boundaries of the city and its surroundings to serve Israel’s broader objectives. It added that the succession of settlement projects in southern Jerusalem, alongside other projects across the governorate, seeks to create a new reality in which the separation of Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings becomes irreversible.

It further said that the use of the Absentees’ Property Law to seize Palestinian land in occupied East Jerusalem constitutes a serious violation of private property rights and reflects a broader system of legislation and measures being used to facilitate settlement expansion and the seizure of Palestinian land, in violation of international humanitarian law, which prohibits an occupying power from confiscating private property and transferring its civilian population into occupied territory.

The Jerusalem Governorate called on the international community, the United Nations, the UN Security Council, and the states and High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their legal and political responsibilities and take practical measures to halt settlement expansion in Jerusalem and its surroundings, rather than limiting their response to statements of condemnation.

It warned that continued international silence over such projects encourages Israeli authorities to advance their plans and gives them more time to establish new facts on the ground that may become increasingly difficult to reverse. It called for international protection for the Palestinian people, their land and property, and for an end to settlement activity, land seizures, demolitions and displacement in occupied Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem Governorate reaffirmed that Jerusalem will remain an integral part of the Palestinian land, stressing that attempts to isolate it from Bethlehem and the southern West Bank or alter its Arab and Palestinian identity will not grant Israel legitimacy over the territory or change the fact that East Jerusalem is a Palestinian city under occupation.

It added that the city’s future should be determined by its people and their legitimate national rights, rather than by settlement, expansion and annexation plans.

Y.S