West Bank Activity Raises Fears of New Israeli Settlement
LONDON-Israeli forces moved additional mobile homes to an area near the Tayasir military checkpoint in the northern occupied West Bank on Tuesday, prompting Palestinian officials to accuse Israel of advancing plans to establish a new settlement in the area.
The site, located east of Tubas in the northern Jordan Valley, was once home to an Israeli military base that was evacuated about two decades ago. According to Palestinian officials, the area later became an Israeli settler outpost known as Goder, which they say is now undergoing further expansion.
Mutaz Bisharat, a Palestinian official in Tubas, said dozens of mobile homes had been brought to the site by the local settlement council and were being installed as part of efforts to establish a permanent settlement near the Tayasir checkpoint.
Palestinian officials said the latest activity reflected a broader expansion of Israeli settlements in the northern Jordan Valley. Mahdi Daraghmeh, head of the Al-Maleh Village Council, said Israeli forces had continued transporting caravans to the Goder outpost and were carrying out infrastructure work linked to plans previously announced for the site.
Daraghmeh said Israeli authorities were also bulldozing and levelling land near the checkpoint in preparation for additional construction. He said planned facilities included a synagogue, recreational areas and a swimming pool.
Under Israeli law, settlements are established with formal government authorisation, while outposts are generally built without official approval. Under international law, both settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank are widely regarded as illegal, a position Israel disputes.
The developments near Tayasir come amid what Palestinian officials and rights organisations describe as an acceleration in settlement expansion across the northern Jordan Valley, an area they say is facing increasing pressure from Israeli authorities and settlers.
According to the Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now, Israeli authorities expanded the municipal boundaries of 69 settlements during 2025, incorporating approximately 8.5 square kilometres of land that had previously fallen outside their jurisdictions.
The expansion has coincided with increased tensions across the occupied West Bank since October 2023, when Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. Palestinian officials and humanitarian organisations say settler incursions and the establishment of outposts have intensified during that period.
Data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) shows that at least 1,988 Palestinians were displaced across the occupied West Bank during the first four months of 2026, around 20% more than during the whole of 2025.
According to OCHA, the governorates recording the highest numbers of people displaced in settler-related incidents since January 2025 have been Ramallah, with 1,205 people displaced, followed by Jericho with 861 and Tubas with 619.
The latest activity near the Tayasir checkpoint adds to longstanding disputes over Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, an issue that remains one of the central points of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
