Advancement of 2,162 Housing Units in the West Bank

UPDATE — June 3, 2026

The Higher Planning Council approved 2,162 housing units. Smotrich called the decisions “a national move that solidifies our hold on the ground” and thanked the Civil Administration and the Settlement Administration for leading the process.

May 31, 2026

The Higher Planning Council is set to convene on Wednesday (June 3, 2026) to advance 2,414 housing units across the West Bank. Two of the plans effectively authorize new settlements. In the Gvaot settlement west of Bethlehem — established as a “neighborhood” of the Alon Shvut settlement and authorized by the government as an independent settlement in March 2025 — 1,006 units (Plan A418/2/1) will receive final approval, giving the settlement an urban character. In Kiryat Arba, 234 units will receive final approval in the Hamivesher neighborhood (Plan 510/6/2), which is an independent settlement within Hebron, located approximately 800 meters north of Kiryat Arba and detached from it. The plan for this new Hebron settlement was submitted for statutory deposit in April 2024.

The total number of housing units approved by the Higher Planning Council in 2026, including the upcoming session, stands at 6,232.

Since November 2024, the Higher Planning Council has been convening weekly to advance housing units in settlements. The shift to weekly approvals not only normalizes construction in the territories but actively accelerates it. In 2025, for instance, the Higher Planning Council advanced 27,941 housing units — an unprecedented record since the beginning of the settlement enterprise in the West Bank.

The location of the Hamivesher outpost in Hebron, north of Kiryat Arba. A plan for 234 housing units will authorize the outpost and establish it as a new settlement.

One of the changes introduced by the Netanyahu-Smotrich government in June 2023 was the elimination of the requirement for prior approval from the defense minister at each stage of a settlement plan’s advancement. Until that decision, every construction plan in the settlements required advance approval from the defense minister. In recent years, the defense minister had limited the advancement of settlement plans to approximately four times a year, with thousands of housing units approved in a single Higher Planning Council session. In recent weeks, a further shift has occurred, with the Higher Planning Council convening roughly every two weeks and approving several hundred units per session. In this way, the government seeks to normalize settlement planning while attracting less public and international attention and scrutiny.

Plans Approved from January 2026
Last updated: May 31, 2026