The Wall & Colonization Resistance Commission announced Thursday that Israeli occupation authorities have approved a large‑scale colonial master plan for the illegal colony of Masu’a, built on Palestinian lands in the Al‑Far’a Valley area of the Jericho District, as part of Israel’s accelerated expansion policy targeting the Jordan Valley.
The plan, registered under number יוש/1/6/312, authorizes the construction of 517 new colonial units over approximately 1,692 dunams, marking a major enlargement of the colony’s built‑up area at the expense of surrounding Palestinian lands. The scheme was first deposited with Israeli planning committees on November 25, 2025.
According to the Commission, the plan extends beyond residential construction to include public institutions, service zones, infrastructure networks, roads, open areas, and operational facilities — a design that reflects Israel’s intent to transform Masu’a into a fully integrated colonial bloc prepared for future expansion.
The Commission stated that the project forms part of a systematic Israeli policy aimed at consolidating control over the Jordan Valley of the occupied West Bank and isolating it demographically and geographically through continuous colonial expansion and land seizure, preventing natural Palestinian growth.
It warned that the network of colonial roads and infrastructure constitutes one of the most dangerous tools of de facto annexation and the imposition of irreversible facts on the ground.
The Commission cautioned that the ongoing escalation of colonial activity in the Jordan Valley, including the approval of structural plans and the linking of colonies through service networks, undermines Palestinian development prospects and threatens the territorial unity of the occupied West Bank.
It called on the international community to assume its legal and political responsibilities toward Israel’s persistent violations and to act decisively to halt colonial expansion, which constitutes a flagrant breach of international law and UN resolutions.
Masu’a was established in the late 1960s as one of the first Israeli agricultural colonies in the central Jordan Valley.
Over the decades, successive Israeli governments have expanded its boundaries through confiscation of nearby Palestinian lands and integration into the broader network of colonies stretching from Argaman to Rotem.
The Jordan Valley, which covers nearly one‑third of the occupied West Bank, remains a strategic target of Israeli annexation plans aimed at maintaining full control over its fertile lands and water resources while restricting Palestinian presence and development.
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 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits collective punishment and acts of terror against civilian populations.
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”.
Articles 53 and 147, prohibit the destruction of civilian property and classify pillage as a war crime.
