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Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank has accelerated significantly, with farming outposts and state-backed initiatives seizing roughly 1 million dunams—nearly a fifth of the entire territory—according to a report published by Israeli watchdog groups Peace Now and Kerem Navot. The rapid growth of these outposts, accompanied by military-backed infrastructure and civilian security squads, has systematically displaced Palestinian communities, restricted regional movement, and isolated local villages from essential agricultural lands.
The Expansion of Grazing Outposts and Land Seizures
Settlers living in agricultural outposts now effectively control approximately 1 million dunams across the West Bank, with roughly 750,000 of those dunams seized since the current Israeli government took office in late 2022, according to data from Peace Now and Kerem Navot. These outposts rely heavily on herds of sheep and goats to claim and clear land with minimal manpower.
According to Netanel, an Israeli settler-soldier speaking during a tour for English-speaking visitors near the Palestinian village of al-Mughayyir, the livestock serve a strategic purpose. While the milk and meat are not commercially profitable, the animals graze out Palestinian crops, and their intimidating presence pushes farmers off land they can no longer safely use. Established in 2025, the Metzudat David outpost is one of 10 illegal outposts under Israeli law that now surround al-Mughayyir, effectively cutting off the village from its eastern agricultural lands.
Dror Etkes, the head of Kerem Navot, explained the mechanics of this displacement. “Once that outpost went in, it effectively closed off the village’s access to land to the east, displacing the community from that land,” Etkes told The Intercept. Amin Abu Alia, the council head of al-Mughayyir, noted that out of the village’s roughly 41,000 dunams, residents today have practical access to only 1,200 to 1,500 dunams as settlers have taken over more than 38,000 dunams of grazing and farmland.
Military Reinforcements and Legal Status
The settlement movement is bolstered by reinforcements from the military’s Hagmar battalions, which are regional defense units staffed largely with settlement residents that have expanded significantly since October 7, 2023. Marko Milanovic, a professor of public international law at the University of Reading, noted that reservist settler-soldiers in these battalions “are not simply self-organized militia groups” and should legally be treated in the same way as Israel Defense Forces soldiers.
Concurrently, the Israeli government has distributed thousands of rifles to civilian security squads, at times handed out personally by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Watchdog groups characterize this combined deployment of state-supplied weaponry and agricultural outposts as an unprecedented state-backed land grab.
Movement restrictions have tightened concurrently. The Israeli military closed al-Mughayyir’s eastern gate opening onto the Alon Road in 2023, forcing residents to detour through the western side via Khirbet Abu Falah, which adds at least an hour to travel times. COGAT, the Israeli defense body administering the West Bank, did not respond to inquiries regarding the legal status of the outposts or the land and gate closures.
Violence, Casualties, and Impunity
The intensification of settlement outposts has correlated with an increase in violence. Al-Mughayyir was the village most affected by settler violence in the West Bank in 2025, recording more than 70 incidents, according to Nasser Khoudr, Middle East assistant research manager at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project (ACLED), who added that the village is on track for similar figures. In April, a settler shot and killed 14-year-old Aws al-Naasan and 32-year-old Jihad Abu Naim at the village boys’ school, according to United Nations and local officials. Verified video footage showed a man in military fatigues advancing and firing toward the school.
The Israeli military stated that the shooter was a reservist traveling with Israeli civilians who opened fire after alleging that suspects threw stones at their car. The military reported that the reservist was dismissed from reserve duty, his weapon was confiscated, and military police are reviewing the incident, though no arrests have been made.
Data from the United Nations indicates that no Israeli soldier has served prison time for killing a Palestinian in the West Bank since at least 2017. Additionally, the Israeli rights group Yesh Din found that 93.6 percent of investigations into settler violence between 2005 and 2025 were closed without indictments.
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