Palestine (Washington Insider) - Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate warned that Israel plans nearly 9,000 West Bank homes, seizing 2,800 dunams. UN and ICJ deem settlements illegal, raising tensions in Jerusalem, Ramallah, and the surrounding Palestinian areas.
As Qais Abu Samra and Betul Yilmaz on AA Middle East News reported, the Jerusalem Governorate on Monday, Dec 13, 2025, warned against an Israeli plan to build nearly 9,000 homes in the central West Bank.
"The Israeli occupation authorities are seeking to implement a dangerous settlement plan on the lands of Jerusalem International Airport and neighbouring areas,"
the governorate said in a statement. It considered the plan
"a direct threat to geographical and demographic links between Jerusalem and the city of Ramallah."
What threat does Israel’s 9,000-home West bank plan pose to peace?
The project focuses on Palestinian areas, including Kafr Aqab, Qalandia, Al-Ram, Beit Hanina, and Bir Nabala.
"which deepens the policy of separation and isolation imposed on the city and its surroundings, and undermines any political horizon based on the two-state solution,"
the statement said.
Officials mentioned that these neighbourhoods are already populated, and local officials said the plan could disrupt the daily life of residents. The expansion also risks affecting the social and economic balance of the communities.
An Israeli planning committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, Dec 17, 2025, to discuss the project. The meeting may include allocating land for construction, which could speed up the settlement plan.
Tensions grew after the Israeli Finance Ministry requested 16 million shekels, about $5 million, be transferred to the Ministry of Environmental Protection. The funds are intended to rehabilitate polluted land, including areas around Jerusalem International Airport.
Palestinian authorities said the move could fast-track the settlement project. They also raised concerns about the legality and purpose of the plan. The Jerusalem Governorate urged the international community to respond.
The Jerusalem Governorate warned that Israel’s settlement plan
“will lead to the establishment of a settlement enclave separating northern Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings.”
Officials said the plan could isolate Palestinian neighbourhoods and break the social and geographic continuity of the area. They added that the project would expand Israeli control in the occupied West Bank.
The Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, a Palestinian body that monitors settlement activity, reported that Israel seized 2,800 dunams of land last November. One dunam equals 1,000 square meters.
According to the commission, the land was taken through squatting, expropriation orders, and changes to state land borders. The international community has repeatedly said that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law.
For decades, there have been ongoing controversies regarding Israeli settlements located in both the occupied territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. These were territories that were taken by Israel during the Middle Eastern War of 1967.
The construction of settlements in these areas has continued to be a contentious issue since the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993, with Palestinian leaders arguing that these projects will have a detrimental effect on the establishment of a future sovereign state for the Palestinian people.
Tensions surrounding the issue of settlement construction intensified after the establishment of Israel's present government, which took power in December 2022 and began increasing its previous commitment to developing additional new settlements in the vicinity of Jerusalem.
In July 2025, the International Court of Justice released a historic decision stating that the illegal occupation of Palestine by Israel must cease, and that all settlements currently existing within the occupied territories must be dismantled and removed from those areas.