April 9, 2026: Minister Mua’yyad Sha’ban, head of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, stated that the dangerous decision made by the so-called Israeli "Cabinet" to secretly approve the establishment of dozens of new colonies in the West Bank represents an extremely perilous leap within the accelerating colonial settlement project on Palestinian lands, and a crude attempt to impose irreversible facts on the occupied Palestinian territory.
He explained that this decision, bearing an unprecedented scale in terms of the number of sites; reaching 34 colonial sites, along with the specific nature and characteristics of these locations, aims to intensify the dismantling of Palestinian geography and the isolation of its communities. It adds a new layer to the systematic approach of entrenching creeping annexation, transforming colonial settlement into a sovereign tool imposed by force, in direct and explicit defiance of all rules of international law and international legitimacy resolutions that deem settlements illegal and void.
Mr. Sha’ban said that preliminary available maps regarding the occupation's decision reveal a systematic and widespread targeting of Palestinian lands, particularly the northern West Bank area, in the vicinity of Jenin governorate. The occupying state has decided to recolonize this area, this time by positioning more colonial sites around the four evacuated colonies whose recolonization has been approved. Added to this is the targeting of Hebron governorate with 10 new colonial sites. He added that the distribution of the new colonial sites shows systematic targeting of areas surrounding the Green Line, indicating the occupation's persistent attempt to dissolve borders, thereby eliminating any future horizon for a two-state solution.
Mr. Sha’ban also pointed out that this decision comes as a continuation of a series of decisions taken by the Cabinet during 2025, which included separating 13 colonial neighborhoods and considering them standalone colonies, along with approving the establishment of 22 colonial sites at a later stage, followed by an additional decision to create 19 more sites. This reflects an accumulative and methodical approach to expanding the colonial project and transforming it from gradual expansion to rapid quantitative and qualitative leaps aimed at imposing irreversible facts on the ground.
Mr. Sha’ban affirmed that this escalation comes in the context of clear exploitation of the regional situation and international preoccupation, in an attempt to push through major colonial schemes away from oversight and accountability. This reflects the occupying government's determination to proceed with its expansionist policies, benefiting from international silence, incapacity, or complicity.
He added that approving such a large number of colonial sites at once, and secretly, constitutes a dangerous precedent and confirms that the colonial project has become a central tool for reshaping the geographical and demographic reality in the West Bank, thereby undermining any possibility of establishing a contiguous and viable Palestinian state.
He emphasized that these measures are null and void, will not create any right nor confer any legitimacy, and that the Palestinian people will remain clinging to their land and inalienable national rights. Shaaban called on the international community to move beyond verbal condemnation to practical deterrent measures, consistent with its stated positions rejecting colonialism, and to ensure the halt of this dangerous escalation and hold the occupying state accountable for its grave violations.