A report by the Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission revealed that Israeli occupation authorities have approved three major expansion projects in the illegal colony of Ma’ale Adumim, established on stolen Palestinian land east of occupied Jerusalem, in the West Bank.
Commission head, Minister Moayyad Shaaban, the newly approved plans are designed to create geographical continuity between Ma’ale Adumim and the industrial zone of Mishor Adumim.
This move is expected to result in greater isolation of Palestinian land between these colonist projects.
Shaaban explained that the schemes had originally been submitted for review in late 2024 and have now been ratified in what he described as a “race against time to enforce new facts on the ground, particularly in the Jerusalem area.”
He warned that these measures are part of an intensified colonial campaign aiming to “deepen the isolation and siege of the Palestinian communities around Jerusalem through extensive structural and legal interventions.”
Shaaban elaborated that the maps and planning documents show the three development zones marked in red forming a connected layout.
This configuration links Ma’ale Adumim to Mishor Adumim, located to its east and marked in yellow on the map, thereby facilitating seamless territorial continuity between the two illegal colonist installations.
He further stated that the three plans are as follows. The first, Plan No. יוש/1/59/7/1/420, is intended for Ma’ale Adumim and includes the construction of 1,113 new colonist units across approximately 1,307 dunums of confiscated land.
The second, Plan No. יוש/2/59/7/1/420, calls for 944 additional units on about 680 dunums, integrating with the first.
The third plan envisions 1,108 units over an estimated 486 dunums and merges with the previous two to create unified geographical connectivity between Ma’ale Adumim and Mishor Adumim, both situated on Palestinian land between Jerusalem, Jericho, and the Jordan Valley.
Shaaban added that the plans also include a new colonist neighborhood along with a network of roads to reinforce control over the main regional road.
This would effectively cut off the Palestinian communities of Bir al-Maskoub, Sunaisel, and others from the western sectors of the area and from essential access routes, as clearly depicted in the map.
He noted that in 2024 alone, the occupying authorities submitted 21 structural planning proposals for colonies located outside Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries.
That number spiked in the first half of 2025, with 28 additional plans filed for the same geographical zone, an aggressive expansion campaign unprecedented in both scale and intensity.
The Israeli decision came amidst a broader escalation in colonizers’ violence, which includes physical assaults on civilians and their property.
On Friday, a group of illegal Israeli paramilitary colonizers destroyed solar energy system serving Palestinian residents in the Al-Maita community of the northern Jordan Valley, in the occupied West Bank.
On Thursday, groups of Israeli colonizers launched coordinated assaults across multiple areas of the occupied West Bank, wounding civilians, uprooting agricultural land, and attempting livestock theft, further intensifying their serious violations under military protection.
Since the beginning of this year, Israeli soldiers and paramilitary colonizers have killed 188 Palestinians, including 5 who were killed by the colonizers, in the occupied West Bank: 65 in Jenin, 33 in Nablus, 27 in Tubas, 17 in Tulkarem, 13 in Hebron, 11 in Ramallah, 9 in Bethlehem, 5 in Jerusalem, 4 in Qalqilia, 3 in Salfit and 1 in Jericho.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli soldiers and paramilitary colonizers have killed 1023 Palestinians; 289 in Jenin governorate, 213 in Tulkarem, 125 in Nablus, 94 in Tubas, 90 in Hebron, 70 in Ramallah, 55 in Jerusalem, 37 in Qalqilia, 30 in Bethlehem, and 13 in Jericho and 7 in Salfit.
All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention in addition to various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory”.
