All paths lead to annexation

Settlers Constructed 116 km of Unauthorized Road in the West Bank

Settlement Watch Peace Now, March 2025

Key Findings

1. Between mid-2023 and mid-2024, settlers constructed approximately 139 new roads, totaling 116.4 km, excluding the dozens of kilometers of upgraded existing paths and dirt roads.
2. About 75 km, nearly two-thirds of the road length (approximately 65%), passes through privately owned Palestinian land.
3. At least 25 roads, totaling 26.6 km in length, were used by settlers to establish new outposts.
4. Settlers used at least 46 roads totaling 40.3 km to control hills and extensive new areas.
5. At least four roads totaling 7 km were constructed within area B, which is under the Palestinian Authority’s responsibility.

Although the roads are unauthorized, the state is investing millions of shekels in their construction, with close involvement from the IDF and Central Command. Legal advisors in the Ministries of Justice and Defense have facilitated this by broadly applying the security pretext of “Operational Requirements” on an unprecedented scale.

Peace Now: The roads constructed by settlers are being used for the systematic expulsion of thousands of Palestinians from extensive areas in the West Bank. This is not sporadic activity by lawbreaking settlers but rather an organized mechanism funded with millions of shekels by the government, intended to establish facts on the ground and annex the Occupied Territories to Israel. Netanyahu’s government is rushing toward annexation and sabotaging the possibility of a two-state solution, and along the way, it is trampling the law and encouraging the construction of hundreds of kilometers of roads without permits and away from public scrutiny.

Background

Immediately following the outbreak of war after the October 7, 2023 massacre, settlers dramatically increased their takeover of West Bank territories. Three main phenomena have intensified significantly since October 7, 2023:

(1) settler violence against Palestinians, including the expulsion of dozens of Palestinian communities living in Area C.

(2) establishment of dozens of new outposts, some on private Palestinian land adjacent to Palestinian communities.

(3) unauthorized construction of dozens of roads. This report focuses on these unauthorized road constructions.

The road construction occurs alongside military activity that has closed dozens, if not hundreds, of access roads to Palestinians since October 7 between Palestinian settlements and their agricultural lands. The road closures by the military, along with dozens of new outposts, intensified settler violence, and dozens of newly constructed roads, have significantly reduced Palestinian presence in Area C territories, with settlers becoming almost the exclusive presence in the area.

An examination of aerial photographs conducted by Peace Now revealed that from just before the war began until August 2024, settlers illegally constructed 139 new roads spanning 116.4 kilometers. These roads do not include upgrades to previously constructed dirt roads. It should be noted that since the aerial photographs were taken around August 2024, the Settlement Watch Team has documented dozens more unauthorized built roads that are not included in this report.

Nearly two-thirds of the constructed road length, 75.3 kilometers (approximately 65%), passes through private Palestinian land. It’s important to emphasize that these constructed and paved roads are for the exclusive use of settlers, with Palestinians prohibited from using them, even when they are built on private Palestinian land.

Road Construction – Scope and Purposes

Roads are an integral part of outposts and settlements. Their construction expands the area under settler control and, in many cases, establishes new boundaries that Palestinians are forbidden to cross. Through these roads, settlers can more easily reach new areas and expel Palestinian farmers and shepherds from them. This way, settlers have managed to take over 14% of the West Bank.

Of the 139 new roads documented by Peace Now:

• Settlers opened sixty-four roads for outposts. Of these, 25 were paved to establish new outposts, 31 to expand existing ones, and 8 to connect outposts to nearby settlements. The total length of these roads is 56.4 km.
• Forty-six roads, totaling 40.4 km, were constructed to enable access to new areas without permanent settler presence.

These roads’ primary purpose is to seize land and prevent Palestinian presence in the area. In some cases, an outpost may eventually be established along these roads.

Settlers paved a road on the lands of the Palestinian village of Kufr a-Dik. Several months after the road opened, a new farm outpost, the New Tzreda Farm, was established.

A road from the Mizpe Danny outpost to the Ha’armonot Farm outpost, west of Jericho.

Government Funding and Assistance

The large-scale road construction is not simply the result of isolated efforts by individual settlers. Operating bulldozers and trucks for days or weeks costs hundreds of thousands of shekels. This is a well-organized operation funded by public sources, though it is being conducted without the necessary legal permits.

In June 2024, Peace Now revealed a recording from a conference held by Minister Smotrich in which he detailed the annexation measures he was leading. At the conference, the CEO of the Settlement Division presented a budget of 75 million NIS for 2024 allocated to outposts and illegal farms in the West Bank. According to him, within this budget, 7.7 million NIS were designated for road construction.

Additionally, The government has invested around 34 million NIS annually in recent years to operate local settlement authorities’ land patrols. The funds cover salaries, vehicles, equipment, drones, aerial photography, and related expenses for departments tasked with “preventing planning and construction violations and the takeover of state lands.”

These departments operate only against Palestinian construction or land cultivation, and the inspectors, who have no legal supervisory authority, continuously report Palestinian construction to the Civil Administration. However, alongside salaries and operational funds for the supervisory system, this budget also includes “establishing guarding infrastructure” that includes funding for road construction, fencing, camera installation, and gate construction.

These are two known ways in which the government finances the massive road construction evident in the field in recent years. However, the government does not disclose details about the funds allocated for these roads, their costs, or the specific roads involved; these activities occur without public oversight.

In addition, the settlement regional councils are also involved in breaking new roads. Although the councils do not publish their budgets in sufficient detail to understand how much and where they invest in opening new roads, it is clear that they are involved.

In March 2025, settlers started building a road from the Mitzpe Danny outpost to the Palestinian village of Mughayir a-Dir. When residents called the police to stop the work, the settlers presented the police with a letter from the Binyamin Regional Council stating: “We are undertaking work to protect state lands. This work is coordinated and has our consent.” It is important to emphasize that this letter does not serve as a building permit. In fact, the wording suggests that no permit has been issued for the work. However, the council acknowledges its responsibility for the road-breaking activities.

IDF and the Central Command Involvement

The procedure for supporting illegal outposts and farms under the heading “Support for Security Components” allocates 75 million NIS for 2024. It emphasizes the involvement of the IDF, particularly the Central Command, in approving various funding components for outposts.

For road construction, approval from the Commander of the Central Command, known as “DMZ approval,” is necessary, along with the endorsement of the Ministry of Justice. DMZ (an acronym in Hebrew for “Operational Requirement”) is a procedure for constructing roads for military needs without proper planning and construction permits. Although DMZs are intended to be used only in cases of urgent security needs, they serve as a legal pretext to enable government funding for road construction that benefits outposts and facilitates land seizure in the West Bank.

The funding procedure also stipulates that the components funded through it — including the list of constructed roads and the names of the benefiting outposts — will be classified, making it impossible to know how much money was invested in these roads or which roads were funded.

Roads on Private Land

As mentioned, a significant portion of the constructed roads pass through privately owned Palestinian land (about 75 km out of 116 km). Legally, to make “security” use of private land, the military must publish a seizure order, which announces the intention to take control of the land for security purposes temporarily and allows for financial compensation to the landowners. The seizure orders issued by the IDF in the West Bank are not systematically published online, so our information about them is only partial.

Nevertheless, Peace Now is aware of a small number of seizure orders issued this year, including some for roads that had already been constructed in the past. However, we are not aware of any seizure orders issued for the roads listed in this report.

Roads within Palestinian Authority Territories (Area B)

Some newly constructed roads pass partially or entirely through Area B, areas under Palestinian Authority control. As recently revealed by Peace Now, in the past year, settlers have established at least 7 outposts in Area B, most of which use existing dirt roads. However, Peace Now has documented approximately 2.7 km of new roads that settlers have constructed within Area B.

Unauthorized Road Construction by Settlers from Mid-2023 to Mid-2024

Purpose of the Road, Number of Roads length (in meters), Percentage of Total New Road Length

Access to new outpost, 25, 26600, 22.9%

Peripheral road, 14, 11508, 9.9%

Settlement expansion, 3, 807, 0.7%

Outpost expansion, 31, 13917, 12%

Connection between outposts and settlements, 8, 15932, 13.7%

For quarry, 1, 1290, 1.1%

For touristic spring, 1, 185, 0.2%

Land seizure, 46, 40371, 34.7%

Escape routes, 8, 5433, 4.7%

Other, 2, 361, 0.3%

Total, 139, 116404, 100.00%

Land Ownership

Length (in meters) Percentage

Total Roads 116,404 100%

Public land (“State land”) 41,097 35%

Private land 75,307 65%

Summary and Conclusions

As can be seen from the data and the wide distribution of roads, 116 km of roads effectively create control over a much larger area. In fact, since October 7, settlers have been taking control over vast areas of hundreds of thousands of dunams and removing Palestinians from them (see our thorough report on the issue). The roads they construct are a less recognized means that allows, supposedly without physical violence and without placing settlers in the area, to expand settler control over lands. Road construction, like the establishment of outposts, is not limited to Area C, and outposts and roads can also be seen in Area B territories.

The government, for its part, supports and assists in road construction, land seizure, and the expulsion of Palestinians. On one hand, the authorities refrain from stopping the unauthorized work, and on the other hand, the government directly finances the work with millions of shekels.