Israel is intensifying its settlement expansion in occupied East Jerusalem with the clear aim of obliterating any future Palestinian claim to the city as a capital, warned renowned settlement expert Khalil Tufakji. In 2025, settlement activity has surged dramatically, with Israeli authorities executing a calculated strategy to entrench control, fragment Palestinian neighbourhoods, and redraw the demographic map.

Since 1967, Israel has seized 87% of East Jerusalem’s land, leaving Palestinians with just 13% — and even that is under constant threat. Settlements in areas like Silwan and Beit Hanina are expanding under the cover of global distraction, particularly the ongoing war in Gaza, and amid weak international pushback.

The expansion includes both vertical growth in existing settlements and the creation of new outposts, roads, and tunnels — all components of a long-standing strategy to encircle Palestinian neighbourhoods and connect Israeli settlements into one continuous urban block. This "penetration" approach fragments Palestinian communities into isolated enclaves, severing social and geographic continuity.

A particularly alarming phase is now underway: the implementation of the “Greater Jerusalem” project. It envisions annexing 10% of the occupied West Bank, including key settlement blocs such as Ma’ale Adumim, Giv’at Ze’ev, and Gush Etzion, and connecting them to Jerusalem’s municipal fabric. One of its tools — the separation wall — has already cut off 150,000 Palestinians from their city.

Recent developments include a 400-unit expansion of the Kadmat Tzion outpost on land from Abu Dis, 600 units in Nof Tzion in Jabal al-Mukabbir, and a new settlement in Khan al-Ahmar approved in April 2025. Projects like “Silicon Wadi” in Wadi al-Joz aim to fuse East and West Jerusalem under Israeli control, erasing the city's Palestinian character through what Tufakji called “sensory occupation.”

Tens of thousands of new housing units, such as those planned in Givat Hamatos, Gilo, and Ramat Rachel, are being supported by infrastructure like Highway 45 and the so-called “Sovereignty Road,” which is designed to separate Israeli and Palestinian traffic. These roads deepen segregation and further restrict Palestinian movement.

Far from annexing Palestinian towns, Israel’s focus remains on consolidating control over land — not people. As Tufakji noted, Israel learned from the demographic consequences of annexing East Jerusalem in 1967. Today, it seeks to incorporate land, not the Palestinian population that resides on it.

Through settlements, walls, and roads, Israel is not just building — it is systematically unbuilding the vision of a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem.