Israeli authorities have moved forward with plans for thousands of new settler homes in East Jerusalem, marking a significant step in reshaping the city’s landscape during a continuing genocidal war. The latest move shifts the project from paperwork to implementation, accelerating construction in areas long contested and deeply sensitive for the local population.

The expansion is part of a broader building push approved last year, with similar projects rolled out across the occupied West Bank. Taken together, these developments are designed to link major settlement blocs to East Jerusalem, tightening control over surrounding land and severing the city from its Palestinian hinterland. Officials involved in monitoring land use say the scale and pace of construction signal an intention to create irreversible facts on the ground.

The impact goes beyond housing numbers. By altering geographic continuity, the project further undermines prospects for a contiguous Palestinian state and entrenches demographic change in and around East Jerusalem. Critics, including voices from within Israeli civil society, warn that the policy entrenches permanent inequality and deepens segregation, reinforcing structures that already dominate daily life under a genocidal war.

These developments unfold against the backdrop of decades of settlement growth since 1967, which has seen hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers move into occupied territory despite repeated international objections. Legal opinions issued in recent years have reaffirmed the illegality of the occupation and called for the dismantling of settlements, yet construction continues, intensifying displacement and uncertainty for residents affected by the policy.