Jerusalem: A new report by Peace Now and Kerem Navot, titled "Annus Mirabilis: Actions by the Israeli Government to Annex the West Bank, 2023-2025," concludes that the current Israeli government has advanced de facto annexation of the West Bank at an unprecedented pace. The report documents the measures advanced by the Israeli government during this period and demonstrates how they form a single, systematic government policy aiming to deepen Israeli control over the West Bank and advance de facto annexation.
According to Palestine news and Information Agency, the report consolidates various government actions into a unified policy rather than focusing on isolated developments such as settlement construction or outpost authorization. The measures, which include structural governance changes, the transfer of civilian powers, settlement expansion, new outpost establishment, expulsion of Palestinian communities, land takeovers, significant infrastructure investment, and changes to the land regime, are shown to function together as part of a unified government policy.
Key findings of the report reveal significant developments: 185 new outposts established, 118 Palestinian shepherding communities and shepherding clusters expelled, and 102 new settlements established through the legalization of outposts or by granting existing neighborhoods independent settlement status. Additionally, 40,064 housing units were advanced in settlements, farm outposts now control over 1.1 million dunams, and at least 223 kilometers of new roads have been opened across the West Bank. Settlers also took control of at least 11,520 dunams through agricultural cultivation, and 25,959 dunams were declared as state land.
The report identifies four main mechanisms supporting this policy: structural governance changes and the transfer of powers from the Civil Administration and the military chain of command to the political echelon, accelerated settlement expansion, land takeover through outposts, farm outposts, grazing, agricultural cultivation, and the expulsion of Palestinian communities, and a fundamental transformation of the land regime in the West Bank.
The comprehensive report is based on extensive research, government documents, public budgetary data, aerial photographs, maps, and field testimonies, with findings updated through the first quarter of 2026. According to Peace Now and Kerem Navot, "The report demonstrates that annexation is a process already unfolding through hundreds of administrative, budgetary, and planning decisions. These measures viewed together, it becomes clear that within just three years, the Israeli government has fundamentally transformed the system of control in the West Bank in ways that could severely undermine the possibility of reaching any future political agreement."
The full report, comprising 65 pages of research, maps, graphs, and aerial photographs, provides an in-depth analysis of the Israeli government's actions between 2023 and 2025 and their implications for the future of the West Bank.