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by IMEMC News
Sept 25, 2026

Israeli authorities have approved two plans for 567 new colonial units in the Hebron governorate, in the southern occupied West Bank, amid an accelerated expansion of illegal colonies and colonial outposts.

Citing Hebrew-language sources, the Safa News Agency reported Thursday that the approvals cover colonies south of Hebron.

The Wall and Colonization Resistance Commission stated that one plan, numbered 525, provides for 342 units in the illegal Asael colony, built on lands belonging to the town of As-Samu’. Israel’s Security Cabinet decided in 2023 to formally designate the site as a colony.

Israeli authorities also approved 225 units in the illegal Beit Hagai colony, built on lands of Ar-Rihiya in the town of Dura, under plan 517/4.

At a September 23 meeting, the so-called Planning Council advanced both plans to the validation stage, making them effective and allowing construction procedures to begin.

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The commission said the approvals are part of an accelerated policy to expand illegal colonies and grant colonial sites formal planning status. It added that the Asael plan is a major step toward completing the colony’s planning framework, while the Beit Hagai plan would substantially enlarge its area and capacity.

The commission warned that the measures are part of an ongoing effort to reshape Palestinian geography in the southern West Bank by expanding colonial construction, intensifying land seizure, and linking illegal colonies through colonial roads and infrastructure.

All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention in addition to various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.

Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits collective punishment and acts of terror against civilian populations.

Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory”.

Articles 53 and 147, prohibit the destruction of civilian property and classify pillage as a war crime.

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