WEST BANK, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), The Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ) said on Thursday that Israeli occupation authorities have approved the seizure of nearly 6,000 dunums of Palestinian land as part of a large-scale settlement master plan targeting the area southeast of the Israeli settlement of Tekoa, which is built on land belonging to the town of Tuqu’, east of Bethlehem.
In a statement, ARIJ said the so-called Gush Etzion Regional Council approved the plan on July 20. Covering approximately 6,000 dunums, the project is being promoted jointly by the regional council, the Tekoa settlement, and the Israeli settlement organization Amana.
According to the institute, the plan includes the construction of residential settlement units, tourism facilities, commercial and employment zones, agricultural land, open spaces, and roads in the area between the villages of Tuqu’ and Al-Minya, including land designated as a nature reserve east of Bethlehem.
ARIJ said the plan aims to create a southern geographic extension of the Tekoa settlement by seizing Palestinian land for settlement construction, further restricting Palestinian urban expansion in the area.
The institute added that the expansion would establish territorial continuity between several Israeli settlements and outposts, including Ma’ale Amos, Pnei Kedem (Abi Hanahal), Tekoa, Nokdim, and David Farm, forming a continuous settlement belt under the authority of the so-called Gush Etzion Regional Council.
ARIJ noted that the council’s head, Aron Rosenthal, publicly presented the expansion plan, describing it as a strategic step to strengthen development in eastern Gush Etzion, secure the future of Jewish communities, and ensure territorial continuity through continued settlement construction.
An analysis of the plan and accompanying maps found that 28.2% of the targeted area, or 1,640 dunums out of 5,822 dunums, falls within land classified by Israeli occupation authorities as “state land” under Israeli Military Order No. 59 of 1967.
ARIJ said the plan demonstrates that Israeli land seizures are no longer limited to areas designated by occupation authorities as “state land” or within the jurisdiction of settlements but now extend to land outside those classifications as part of efforts to impose new settlement realities regardless of the legal justifications used to support expansion.
