LONDON: Israel has amended planning regulations in the occupied West Bank to allow unauthorized buildings in settlement outposts to receive water and electricity without building permits, a move an Israeli rights group says advances their legalization while deepening discrimination against Palestinians.
The amendment, signed on Sept. 23 by Israel’s military commander in the West Bank, eases a requirement that buildings have valid permits before being connected to utilities, according to a statement provided to Arab News by Bimkom, an Israeli planning rights group.
“Israel is making it easier for settlers to obtain water, electricity and public services for unauthorized buildings, even before their construction is approved,” said the organization’s Assaf Peled.
“At the same time, Palestinian communities are denied building permits, left without basic infrastructure and face the constant threat of demolition.”
Under the new rules, buildings constructed before Feb. 12, 2023, may qualify for utility connections if they stand on public land or privately owned land with the owner’s consent, and provided Israeli authorities intend to legalize the site and consider approval feasible.
The exemption lasts three years and can be extended, allowing unauthorized buildings to remain connected while their planning status is unresolved. In effect, the change allows construction and utility connections to precede formal planning approval.
The amendment follows a February 2023 government decision to legalize unauthorized settlement outposts.
According to Bimkom, the current Israeli government has announced 104 new settlements, including 48 involving the legalization of existing outposts. Dozens of other outposts have been designated for legalization as neighborhoods of existing settlements.
Only a handful of planning schemes have been approved, however, leaving many outposts receiving government support and benefiting from suspended enforcement measures before securing formal planning approval, the group said.
Bimkom cited the Maoz Tzur outpost as an example of infrastructure being provided before those steps are completed. Minutes of a March 22 meeting of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council show the outpost had been connected to utilities even though the land had not been declared public land and the planned settlement’s boundaries had not been established, the group said.
Bimkom contrasted that approach with planning restrictions facing Palestinians in Area C, which covers about 60 percent of the West Bank and is under full Israeli control over planning and construction.
Although the amendment could theoretically apply to Palestinian buildings, Israeli authorities routinely refuse to approve planning schemes for Palestinian communities, including villages established decades ago, the group said. Many of those communities face the threat of demolition and rely on solar panels for electricity and water tanks that Israeli authorities sometimes confiscate, according to Bimkom.
Peled added: “The amendment reinforces two different planning systems in the same territory — one that facilitates unauthorized Israeli construction and another that prevents Palestinians from building legally.”
The new rules come amid an increase in Israeli demolitions of Palestinian structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. At least 1,500 Palestinians have been displaced by demolitions in the territory since the start of the year, according to UN figures.
In late September, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said demolitions had displaced 147 Palestinians in a single week — more than three times the 2026 weekly average. This included 58 people in the South ’Anata Bedouin community, known locally as Wa’ar Al-Beik, near the area designated for the E1 settlement expansion plan.