
Report: 185 New Communities Established, 40,000 Housing Units Advanced In Judea And Samaria
JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The left-wing organizations Peace Now and Kerem Navot have published a comprehensive 65-page report summarizing the Israeli government’s activities in Judea and Samaria between 2023 and 2025.
While the report’s authors sharply criticize the government, arguing that it accelerated what they describe as the “annexation” of the territory, the data presented in the report points to a broad expansion of Israeli settlement activity and infrastructure.
According to the report, 185 new settlement outposts were established over the past three years, approximately 130 of them agricultural farms and hilltop outposts.
The report also states that plans were advanced for the construction of 40,064 housing units in Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. Of those, 27,941 housing units were promoted in 2025 alone, which the report’s authors say is more than double the previous annual record.
In addition, the report says that 102 new communities and outposts were legalized or formally recognized.
The report further states that during this period Israel declared 25,959 dunams (approximately 6,400 acres or 26 square kilometers) as state land, nearly half of all land declared state land since the beginning of the Oslo Accords process.
It also reports that at least 223 kilometers (139 miles) of new roads were opened or paved, while Jewish residents in the area cultivated and expanded agricultural activity across at least 11,520 dunams (about 2,850 acres).
According to the report’s authors, the agricultural outposts now control more than one million dunams (approximately 247,000 acres or 1,000 square kilometers) of land.
The report identifies what it describes as the most significant structural change: the transfer of extensive civilian authority from the Civil Administration and the military chain of command to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and the Settlement Administration within the Ministry of Defense. Smotrich himself reportedly described the move as “changing the DNA of the system.”
The transferred powers include responsibility for planning and construction, land registration, infrastructure, roads, nature reserves, and law enforcement.
The report also notes that the requirement for the Defense Minister to approve every stage of settlement construction plans was eliminated, a move that, according to the report’s authors, significantly accelerated the planning and approval process.
The report also addresses the renewal of Israeli settlement activity in northern Samaria, following the repeal of the ban on Israeli entry into the areas of communities evacuated during Israel’s 2005 disengagement. According to the document, the government renewed development in Homesh, Sa-Nur, Ganim, and Kadim, while also advancing additional communities in the Jenin and Samaria regions and investing in infrastructure projects, roads, and heritage sites.
Finally, the report states that between 2023 and 2025, 118 Palestinian communities and shepherd encampments were displaced, primarily as a result of violence and restrictions on access to grazing land and water.
Overall, the report documents the scope of the government’s activities during its three-year term in the areas of settlement development, housing construction, infrastructure, land policy, and civilian administration, while presenting those developments within the report authors’ broader criticism of Israeli policy in Judea and Samaria.