In yet another blow to hopes for justice and sovereignty, the Israeli government has approved a large-scale settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, further entrenching its grip on Palestinian land. The plan includes new construction near Qalqilya and Bethlehem, areas already under immense pressure from decades of encroachment and fragmentation.

Among the most alarming developments is the expansion of the Kedumim settlement, where over 1,300 housing units are planned across more than 280 dunams of Palestinian land. A connecting bridge is also set to be built, physically linking the expansion to the core of the existing settlement—solidifying a network designed to disconnect Palestinian communities from each other and from their land.

Palestinian officials have condemned the move, warning that it aims to surround villages near Qalqilya and push settlers dangerously close to the 1967 Green Line, in open defiance of international law. These actions are not isolated decisions, but part of a systematic effort to render any future Palestinian state unviable.

For Palestinians, each settlement approval is not just about buildings—it is about erasure, displacement, and the slow suffocation of a people’s right to exist on their own land.