Israeli settlements are Jewish-only communities established on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. These residential areas typically feature suburban-style housing with commanding hilltop positions overlooking Palestinian towns and villages. Al Jazeera has created a visual explainer mapping the expansion of these settlements alongside associated settler violence, which has reached record levels.
Settlement construction predates Israel’s establishment in 1948 but expanded significantly following Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. Over six decades, scattered hilltop outposts developed into an interconnected network of settlements, roads, and highways linking communities to one another and to Israel. According to Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement monitoring organization, 163 illegal settlements currently exist—148 in the West Bank and 15 in East Jerusalem—housing approximately 750,000 Israeli residents, representing roughly 10 percent of Israel’s Jewish population. Housing unit development accelerated substantially in 2025, with nearly 28,000 units advanced within existing settlements. By 2024, the settler population included 511,100 in the West Bank and 233,600 in East Jerusalem, with over 400 unrecognized outposts operating outside official counts.
International law designates these settlements as illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits occupying powers from transferring populations to occupied territories. The United Nations Security Council, International Court of Justice, and International Committee of the Red Cross have confirmed this position, with the ICJ reaffirming it in July 2024. Under Israeli law, however, settlements receive government authorization, planning, and funding. Outposts differ as smaller, initially unauthorized communities that are frequently legalized or absorbed into recognized settlements over time.
Some settlements have developed into substantial urban centers with municipal governments, schools, shopping facilities, medical services, and educational institutions. Modi’in Illit represents the largest with 89,301 residents, followed by Beitar Illit and Pisgat Ze’ev. These communities connect through an extensive road network constructed exclusively for settler use, including bypass routes fragmenting Palestinian land and restricting Palestinian movement through checkpoints. The E1 area east of Jerusalem exemplifies territorial fragmentation concerns; its planned expansion would separate East Jerusalem from the remainder of the West Bank. In August 2025, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved over 3,000 homes in the E1 project, prompting international condemnation from approximately 30 governments and the European Commission.
Settlers divide into two primary categories: those motivated by economic incentives including subsidized mortgages and affordable housing, and religious-nationalists asserting historical land claims. The latter includes “hilltop youth” known for establishing outposts and attacking Palestinian communities, frequently with military support. UN officials and experts increasingly characterize these attacks as pogroms. According to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs data, settler attacks causing casualties or property damage have surged substantially since October 7, 2023. In 2025, 1,836 such attacks were documented—more than double the 852 recorded in 2022—averaging approximately five daily incidents. From October 7, 2023, through July 2026, 5,131 total attacks occurred, with 1,418 recorded between January and July of this year.
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