Advancement of 475 Housing Units in the West Bank

The Higher Planning Council is scheduled to convene on Wednesday (25 March 2026) to deliberate the advancement of 475 housing units across four settlements in the West Bank. Including this upcoming session, the total number of housing units approved by the Council in 2026 stands at 3,009.

In addition, the Council is expected to review and approve the route of an access road linking the planned settlement of Sa-Nur to Road 60 (Plan No. 108/2). This discussion follows the placement of caravans at the site by the Samaria Regional Council on Tuesday (17 March 2026), as well as reported plans by settlers to populate the outpost in the near future.

The shift to a weekly approval process not only normalizes construction in the territories but also accelerates it. Since the beginning of 2025, including the plans slated for approval this week, the council has advanced a total of 27,941 housing units. All time record.

Settlement Plans Overview

One of the changes made by the Netanyahu-Smotrich government in June 2023 was the elimination of the need for defense minister approval for each stage of settlement plan advancement. Previously, every construction plan in settlements required prior approval from the defense minister. In recent years, the defense minister had limited settlement plan advancements to approximately four times a year, with thousands of housing units being approved in a single session of the Higher Planning Council. In recent weeks, we have witnessed a change where the Higher Planning Council meets every week and approves several hundred housing units in each meeting. In this way, the government seeks to normalize planning in settlements and attract less public and international attention and criticism.

List of Plans Approved Since January 2026