This morning it was reported that the Security Cabinet secretly decided to establish 34 new settlements. This refers to a cabinet decision from April 1, 2026, which was kept confidential until now. Apparently, the government refrained from publishing the news in order not to anger the Americans during the fighting against Iran, but now that a ceasefire has been achieved, they are rushing to publish it.
Reports from the cabinet meeting held last week—dubbed the IDF Chief of Staff’s “Red Flags” meeting—included warnings from the Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir. He cautioned that the IDF could collapse and fail to carry out its missions in light of escalating settler violence.
It is now being reported that the Chief of Staff opposed the plan to establish additional new settlements on security grounds, due to the heavy burden the settlements place on the IDF, which is required to protect numerous points of settlements in the occupied territories.
Peace Now: The government has gone into a frenzy ahead of the elections, seeking to create as many facts on the ground as possible and leave Israel with scorched earth. Today it is already clear to everyone—and the IDF emphasizes this again and again—that the establishment of settlements harms security, places an abnormal burden on the IDF, and undermines the possibility of resolving the conflict and achieving any future security and peace.
The map of the 34 new settlements approved by the cabinet as published by i24news
The 34 settlements that were approved join 68 new settlements that the government has decided upon since its formation, making the total number of settlements decided to be established by this government to 102 settlements. For the full list of all the settlements approved by the government through the end of 2025 see here.
The i24 report mentions 103 settlements. This is likely because the settlement of Givat Harel was approved twice—once as a joint settlement with Givat HaRoeh and once independently.
As noted, the decision has not been officially published, and the information available to us is based solely on media reports. A map published by i24news shows settlements around Jenin, south of Nablus, in the strip between Bethlehem and Hebron, and in additional areas where there has so far been no Israeli presence. Among them are both entirely new settlements and existing illegal outposts that will be formalized as official settlements (one of them is Yishuv Hada’at north of Turmusaya).
According to our understanding, this decision does not concern the establishment of settlements in Areas A and B as some reports say, but rather in Area C, adjacent to Areas A and B.