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'Blurring the green line': Israel advances plan to expand boundary into West Bank
- Mera Aladam
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 54 minutes ago
The move would mark the first time since 1967 that Israel has absorbed part of the West Bank into its territory, amid a series of measures entrenching annexation
Israel has advanced plans for a new settlement that would effectively expand Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries into the occupied West Bank, in what is seen as another step towards de facto annexation.
According to Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement organisation, the government last week approved a plan to expand the illegal settlement of Adam, also known as Geva Binyamin, northeast of occupied East Jerusalem.
The project is being presented as a new “neighbourhood” of the Adam settlement. However, Peace Now says it would have no physical connection to the existing built-up settlement.
Instead, it would effectively extend the municipal boundary of Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in 1980 in a move not recognised internationally.
If implemented, it would mark the first time since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 that it has taken formal steps to expand its boundaries deeper into West Bank territory.
"Under the guise of establishing a new settlement, the government is carrying out de facto annexation through the back door," Peace Now said.
"The new settlement will function in every way as a neighborhood of Jerusalem, and its designation as a "neighborhood" of the Adam settlement is merely a pretext intended to conceal a move that effectively applies Israeli sovereignty to areas of the West Bank."
The move is the latest in a series of measures that Israeli outlet Yedioth Ahronoth has described as “blurring the boundaries of the Green Line” - the 1949 armistice line separating Israel from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Israel has never formally defined its borders with the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon or Syria.
Yedioth Ahronoth said Israel's plan “would amount to de facto sovereignty in the area and an expansion of the capital”.
The proposal includes hundreds of housing units intended for Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community, to be built on land separate from the main Adam settlement. Although there would be no direct access to the existing settlement, previous discussions included the possibility of constructing a bridge to connect them.
According to the blueprint, the project would begin from the Neve Yaakov settlement in East Jerusalem, effectively enlarging Jerusalem’s jurisdiction for the first time since 1967.
Yedioth Ahronoth reported that final approval is expected soon, with implementation possible within a few years, particularly amid recent efforts to expand Israeli control over large areas of Palestinian land.
Far-reaching changes
Knesset member Gilad Kariv said he had submitted an urgent inquiry to Housing Minister Haim Katz, asking whether the government intends to annex the designated area.
Kariv warned the move would “exacerbate friction between Israelis and Palestinians” and create unnecessary tensions.
“The plans do not align with Israel’s international commitments, including those made to US President Donald Trump, and they reflect Netanyahu’s complete capitulation to his extremist partners,” he added.
The move comes as Israel has approved a series of far-reaching measures in recent days that critics say entrench annexation and further weaken the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank.
On Sunday, the government approved a proposal allowing authorities to legalise the confiscation of unregistered, or so-called abandoned, land by reclassifying it as “state land”.
Under international law, an occupying power is prohibited from undertaking land registration in occupied territory. Because of its irreversible nature, the process is widely viewed as a tool for asserting sovereignty over land under occupation.
The decision followed the approval last week of a raft of measures that expand Israel's civil control in Areas A and B - where all major Palestinian cities and towns are located - which since the Oslo Accords have officially been under PA jurisdiction.
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