Settlements: A tool of political genocide in the West Bank

Amid the ongoing war of extermination in Gaza and the intensifying political pressure on Palestinians from all sides, creeping annexation and settlement projects in the West Bank are proceeding with deadly calm. With every new settlement unit, every bypass road, and every military order to confiscate land, a new reality is being drawn that cannot be easily reversed.

Settlements scattered from northern Jenin to southern Hebron are scattered like fireballs across Palestinian territory. They are not just settlements, but rather tools for a colonial settlement project whose primary goal is to impose Israeli sovereignty over the occupied territory and dismantle any possibility of establishing an independent Palestinian state. It is a map of fait accompli, implemented by the far-right Israeli government, which it openly boasts of without ambiguity.

The annexation project has moved from the corridors of Zionist strategic thinking to systematic implementation on the ground. Today, with the rise of a government comprised of figures who do not believe in the existence of the Palestinian people, settlements are being used as a central tool to perpetuate a permanent reality in which borders are eroded, rights are trampled upon, and Palestinians are trapped between a wall, a settlement, and a military barrier.

In all areas, from Hebron, Jerusalem, Nablus, the Jordan Valley, and all the camps, the pace of confiscation, demolitions, and displacement is increasing. Palestinians are not allowed to build and are forced to leave. They are denied infrastructure, while electricity, water, and roads are provided to neighboring settlements. The law does not apply to everyone, but is tailored according to identity.

What is happening in Jerusalem, in particular, is a declared Judaization under the guise of "regulation," the revocation of identity cards under the guise of "law," the demolition of homes under the guise of "unlicensed construction," and the public annexation of major settlements like Ma'ale Adumim as part of the E1 and E2 projects, which directly aim to separate Jerusalem from any Palestinian community and completely isolate the West Bank from Jerusalem. All of this is happening with international complicity and a suspicious Arab and regional silence.

Since October 7, Israel has seized on the regional situation as a historic opportunity to expand its repression in the West Bank under the pretext of "security." Palestinian towns are now treated as a collective enemy and subjected to collective punishment, including repeated raids, daily arrests, home demolitions, and complete desecration by settlers, whose violence is now carried out with direct military support.

The most dangerous aspect of the situation is not just settlement expansion, but the success of the Israeli narrative in marketing settlements as a fait accompli. Amid talk of a "two-state solution," Israel is proceeding to consolidate a single state on the ground, but an apartheid state that discriminates between people based on identity and religious affiliation.

We, as Palestinians, and as an aware society, are called upon more than ever to break this silence and confront this project, not only with politics and rights, but also with awareness. The world, and our children, must know that what is happening in the West Bank is not urban construction, but rather the systematic destruction of the very idea of statehood and the future of future generations.

Settlement is not a deferred negotiating issue, but rather an immediate existential threat. If this settlement expansion is not confronted with popular action, a firm political stance, and an explicit media discourse, our map will be redrawn by hands that do not recognize us and do not see us as a people deserving of a life of dignity.

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With the rise of a government that includes figures who do not believe in the existence of the Palestinian people, settlements have become a central tool for perpetuating a permanent reality in which borders are eroded, rights are trampled upon, and Palestinians are trapped between a wall, a settlement, and a military barrier.