هيئة مقاومة الجدار والاستيطان

Ramallah, February 3, 2025: The head of the Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission, Minister Mu’ayyad Sha’ban, stated that Israeli occupation forces and colonizers carried out 2,161 assaults during the past month of January, continuing the ongoing cycle of terrorism by the occupation state against the Palestinian people, their lands, and properties.

In the commission’s monthly report titled "Occupation Violations and Colonial Expansion Measures," Mr Sha’ban explained that the occupation army was responsible for 1,786 assaults, while colonizers carried out 375 assaults. The majority of these assaults were concentrated in the governorates of Hebron with 358 assaults, Ramallah with 342 assaults, and Nablus with 328 assaults.

He noted that the assaults ranged from armed assaults on Palestinian villages to imposing facts on the ground, field executions, destruction, land levelling, uprooting trees, seizing properties, and imposing closures and checkpoints that sever the ties of Palestinian geography.

Mr. Sha'ban stated that colonizer assaults were most concentrated in the Ramallah governorate, with 105 assaults, followed by Nablus with 76 attacks, Hebron with 55, and Qalqilya with 31.

He added that colonizers carried out 318 acts of vandalism and theft targeting Palestinian properties, affecting vast areas of land. Additionally, these attacks led to the uprooting of 969 trees, including 960 olive trees, distributed as follows: Hebron 350 trees, Bethlehem 328 trees, Salfit 160 trees, Nablus 100 trees, and Ramallah 31 trees

Commenting on the escalation of colonizer crimes, especially those targeting villages east of Qalqilya, such as Al-Funduq, Jinsafut, Imatin, and Hajja, Mr Sha'ban emphasized that these crimes have moved beyond primitive violence to an institutionalized form of terrorism sanctioned by the official establishment. He also stressed that this violence cannot be viewed as separate from the broader colonial context—it has become an integral part of it, manifesting in arson, executions, and the forced displacement of Palestinians. Even more dangerously, the colonial state now provides a legislative framework that protects, supports, and grants immunity to these crimes.

He added that the colonial state has mastered the art of inventing new ways to oppress Palestinians. Across the geography of the Palestinian landscape, Palestinians are subjected to hellish checkpoints that consume their time, health, and livelihood. This deliberate transformation of Palestinian life into a state of constant suffering and torment would not have been possible if the world had not completely abandoned its role as a guardian of human rights and a deterrent against the criminal practices of the last remaining colonial entity on earth and in history. As a result, the defenceless Palestinian is left at the mercy of brutality.

He explained that the methodical closure of Palestinian geography—through checkpoints, crossings, gates, and the racist Annexation and Expansion Wall—was never just about controlling the Palestinian movement. Rather, through over 898 gates, checkpoints, barriers, and a wall stretching more than 700 km, with over 18 new checkpoints added since early 2025, the occupation seeks to reshape Palestinian geography to fit its sick colonial ambitions.

This has turned Palestinian land and existence into isolated enclaves and confined cantons—unlivable, unsustainable, and subjected to one of the most extreme surveillance and control systems imposed on a people under occupation. The aim is to not only sever ties between neighbouring governorates but also eliminate connections between villages, even those adjacent to one another.

Mr. Sha'ban stated that colonizers have attempted to establish 10 new colonial outposts since early January, most of which have been agricultural and pastoral. These outposts were distributed as follows: Four outposts in the Tubas governorate, three outposts in Nablus, and one outpost each in Qalqilya, Ramallah, and Bethlehem. Mr. Sha'ban also emphasized that the decision to establish these colonial outposts comes directly from within the occupation’s cabinet, which actively sponsors the settler-colonial project and facilitates the work of colonizer militias to implement plans for land control and forced displacement. Meanwhile, the occupation government later steps in to formalize these actions as an irreversible reality.

Mr. Sha'ban stated that in January, the occupation authorities seized a total of 262 dunums of Palestinian land through two expropriation orders aimed at expanding a colonial street north of Jerusalem. The first order targeted 258 dunums of land in the villages of Jaba', Kafr Aqab, Al-Ram, Mikhmas, and Qalandiya in the northern part of the Jerusalem governorate. This expropriation aimed to expand Road No. 45, which connects Highway 60 near the Benjamin industrial area to Kokhav Ya'akov, reaching up to the Qalandiya checkpoint. The second order gave the occupation the right to seize 4.5 dunums of land in the same area for the same purpose, which is the expansion of the colonial street.

Mr. Sha'ban pointed out that during January, the occupation authorities carried out 76 demolitions, destroying a total of 126 facilities, including 74 inhabited homes, 4 uninhabited homes, 29 agricultural facilities, and others. The demolitions were concentrated in the following governorates: Jenin with 47 facilities, Jerusalem with 14 facilities, Qalqilya with 11 facilities, and Bethlehem and Nablus, with 10 facilities in each. Sha'ban also revealed that the occupation authorities issued 131 demolition notifications for Palestinian facilities, concentrated in Hebron with 66 notifications, Bethlehem with 45 notifications, and Ramallah with 10 notifications.

Mr. Sha'ban explained that the planning authorities in the occupation state studied a total of 31 master plans in January (both submitted and approved) aimed at expanding colonies in the West Bank and Jerusalem (both within and outside municipal boundaries). The plans targeting the West Bank aimed to build 943 colonial units on an area of 9,881 dunums of Palestinian land. The plans presented in January were predominantly focused on changing land use within the colonies from agricultural to residential areas, which indicates the occupation's intention to carry out large-scale and intensive expansions in the near future. Additionally, 3 of the plans were designated for the expansion of two industrial zones within the colonies. Meanwhile, the plans within the boundaries of Jerusalem aimed to build 3,512 colonial units on an area of 441 dunums of Palestinian land.

Mr. Sha'ban added that the occupation's so-called “Civil Administration” announced its intention to legalize the Metzpeh Kramim colonial outpost by annexing it to the area under the control of the Kokhav Hashahar colony, which is part of the colonial Matteh Binyamin regional council located on Palestinian land northeast of Ramallah governorate, specifically on the land of Deir Jarir village. This move will allow for the planning to organize the colonial outpost. The Metzpeh Kramim outpost, established in 1999 on private Palestinian land east of Kokhav Hashahar colony, has been the subject of a legal battle by Palestinian citizens seeking its removal. In 2022, the occupation court ruled to legalize the outpost, claiming it had been established in good faith by the colonizers.