Settlement Monitor

Significant developments this quarter: As 2016 draws to an end, new data from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics and the group Peace Now reveals that settlement construction activity quadrupled in the calendar year. In an attempt to subvert the High Court’s decision to evacuate the illegal Amona settler outpost by 25 December 2016, the Israeli government’s Higher Planning Committee promotes plans to allocate the evicted Amona settlers at least 98 new settlement units in the Palestinian village of Jalud. The Knesset’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation approves the so-called Regulation Bill, which would retroactively legalize illegal settler outposts built on Palestinian land. If passed, the legislation will avert future cases similar to that of Amona. Additionally, a military compound used by the Israeli army is readied for civilian residence in Hebron, the first time in over a decade that the Israeli government moves to expand Jewish settlement in the city.