08/12/2025 – Union for Justice
The “Union for Justice” stated that the Israeli occupation authorities—through their judicial, legislative, and executive branches—issued during last November a total of nine new laws and administrative measures that collectively aim to reinforce settlement activity in the West Bank.
The Union for Justice explained that these decisions, in addition to entrenching settlements, also target the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), seek to erase the Palestinian presence in the city of Jerusalem, pursue media outlets that expose occupation violations, and legalize the killing of Palestinian prisoners.
The organization stressed that these decisions are racist in nature and in violation of international law, and come within a broader policy of tightening restrictions on Palestinians—particularly in Jerusalem—and undermining the two-state solution, especially amid growing international recognition of the State of Palestine.
New Settlement Tenders
On the fifth of last month, the Israeli Ministry of Housing announced two new tenders to construct a new settlement neighborhood, comprising 356 settlement units in the “Adam / Giv’at Binyamin” settlement, built on land belonging to Palestinian citizens northeast of Jerusalem.
The project is based on a previously approved government plan to expand the settlement’s built-up area by approximately 150 dunums toward the Bedouin community of Jaba’, northeast of Jerusalem, in order to connect the “Adam” settlement with the outpost “Giv’at Gor Aryeh,” which was established in February of this year.
Batan al-Hawa: From a Palestinian Neighborhood to a Settlement
Days later, on 9 November, the Israeli government issued another decision ordering the eviction of properties belonging to the Shuweiki and Awda families in the Batan al-Hawa neighborhood of Silwan, near Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, in favor of the settler organization known as “Ateret Cohanim.”
Founded in 1978, this organization is one of several Zionist settler groups operating in Jerusalem. For decades, it has led plans to Judaize Palestinian neighborhoods—particularly in Silwan and the Old City—by seizing Palestinian properties through fraudulent means and false claims, under the protection of a biased Israeli judiciary.
Since 2001, the organization—whose name in Hebrew means “Crown of the Priests”—has been working to gradually transform the Palestinian neighborhood of Batan al-Hawa, home to around 10,000 Jerusalemites, into a Jewish settlement.
It is noteworthy that all members of this organization belong to the religious nationalist camp currently led by Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, which promotes the idea of establishing the so-called Third Temple on the site of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Expanding the Boundaries of Ten Settlements
During the past month, the Union for Justice documented approval by the so-called commander of Israel’s Central Command, General Avi Bluth, of a decision to define the administrative boundaries of ten settlements in the West Bank as a “strategic step.”
This decision entails intensifying settlement expansion and converting a number of outposts, pastoral farms, and nearby neighborhoods into fully recognized settlements, with all the accompanying development plans and privileges.
Among the areas whose jurisdiction was updated are: Joder (Tevetz) in Tulkarm Governorate; Leshm in Salfit Governorate; Kerem Re’im, previously a settlement neighborhood separated from “Talmon” in Ramallah Governorate and now turned into an independent settlement; Neria east of Deir Ammar in Ramallah; Avot; Gilead Farm in Qalqilya Governorate; Evy HaNachal in Bethlehem Governorate; Farshim (El Nefeh); as well as boundary modifications to the settlements of Mevo’ot and Har Adar in Jerusalem Governorate.
This step forms part of the so-called “regularization wave” led by the Settlement Administration within the occupation authorities. Since the beginning of 2025, 39 new jurisdictional areas have been approved and 30 new settlements have been granted official status, as part of a government decision to establish 50 new settlements in the West Bank. Defining a jurisdictional area is considered a central and crucial stage in establishing a settlement, as it allows for the construction and development of infrastructure.
Law to Abolish Restrictions on Property Purchases
As part of efforts to expand and entrench settlement activity, the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved last month, in a first reading, a draft law titled “Abolition of Discrimination in Property Purchases (2023).”
The proposed law would allow settlers to purchase land in the West Bank directly, without approval from the Civil Administration affiliated with the Israeli army—constituting a significant step toward annexing the West Bank and imposing Israeli sovereignty over it.
The bill seeks to annul the Jordanian law governing the leasing and sale of property to foreigners, which remains in force in the West Bank. Settlers view this law as an obstacle to their ability to seize land and property regardless of area classifications (“A,” “B,” or “C”), and without the need for permission from the Civil Administration.
Targeting the Media: Nothing New
Within the framework of pursuing journalists and media professionals, the Israeli Knesset plenary approved on 10 November, in a first reading, a new bill allowing the government to shut down any foreign media outlet it deems “harmful to state security.” The bill would turn this measure from a temporary order into a permanent law, expanding the powers of the Minister of Communications without judicial oversight.
Law to Execute Prisoners
One day later, the Knesset plenary approved in a first reading a draft law permitting the execution of Palestinian prisoners, with 36 votes in favor and 15 against, and referred it to the relevant parliamentary committee in preparation for second and third readings.
According to the proposed text, the law primarily targets “Palestinian prisoners accused of killing Israelis in operations with nationalistic or security motives,” while excluding Jewish prisoners who committed similar crimes against Palestinians—rendering it a discriminatory and racist law.
The proposal grants Israeli courts the authority to issue death sentences by a majority vote, rather than unanimity, of judges, representing a grave assault on judicial guarantees and an unprecedented step in legislation concerning the right to life.
UNRWA
As a continuation of several laws passed over the past two years targeting UNRWA, the Knesset plenary approved on 19 November, in a first reading, a bill to cut off water and electricity supplies to UNRWA facilities. This constitutes an amendment to a previous law prohibiting any form of relationship between state authorities and UNRWA, raising debate over whether water and electricity services fall under such a “relationship.”
Targeting Official Palestinian Presence in Jerusalem
On 23 November, as part of the ongoing Israeli targeting of Palestinian presence in Jerusalem, Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir issued a decision banning the holding of cultural events at Al-Hakawati Theatre or any other venue in the city.
This decision followed a series of Israeli measures, including the closure of the headquarters of the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions on Salah al-Din Street in occupied Jerusalem in April, and the closure of the offices of the Jerusalem Fund and Endowment in the same month. In July, Israeli intelligence summoned Palestinian Bar Association head Fadi Abbas and informed him of a ban on the association’s activities in Jerusalem. In August, the occupation authorities prevented the holding of Palestinian Medical Association elections in Beit Hanina.
In October, occupation forces raided the headquarters of the Union of Charitable Societies in Wadi al-Joz, Jerusalem, and prevented a social event, implementing a prior decision by Ben-Gvir banning any meetings of cultural, sports, or social associations in Jerusalem, under the pretext that such activities are affiliated with the Palestinian Authority.
The Ibrahimi Mosque on the Target List
As part of its continued monitoring, the Union for Justice documented on 28 November a decision by the occupation authorities to seize the inner courtyard of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.
This decision was preceded months earlier by another move stripping the Hebron Municipality of its supervisory authority over the Ibrahimi Mosque and transferring it to the so-called “Religious Council of the Kiryat Arba Settlement,” under the supervision of the Israeli Civil Administration—marking the first step of its kind since the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre of 1994.
The Union for Justice affirms that these Israeli decisions are inherently racist and fundamentally contradict international laws and norms, which consider settlement activity in the territories occupied in 1967—and all its consequences—illegal, regardless of attempts by the occupation to cloak it with legal or legislative legitimacy.
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