RAMALLAH (Dispatches) -- Israeli authorities have issued a tender for 627 new settler units in the Kochav Yaakov settlement, advancing illegal construction on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CRRC).
The so-called Israel Land Authority published the tender on August 6, 2026, setting a November 30 deadline for construction companies to submit bids. The project covers 253.7 dunams (approximately 63 acres) of land in the Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate, located between northern Al-Quds nd the city of Ramallah.
The plan was first approved on April 27, 2025, and the tender issuance marks the transition from planning to the “marketing and implementation” stage of settlement construction. CRRC slammed the expansion, warning it is designed to deepen the separation between Al-Quds and its Palestinian surroundings” and strengthen links to nearby settlements and access roads.
Kochav Yaakov is part of a cluster of settlements Israel administers under the name “Binyamin.” According to CRRC, Israeli authorities have issued 12 illegal settlement tenders in the first half of 2026, including 1,138 settler units concentrated in five main settlements, alongside separate tenders for industrial zones, offices, nursing homes and tourism facilities.
The settlement expansion has been accompanied by a dramatic surge in settler violence across the West Bank. Palestinian monitors have recorded more than 11,000 attacks by Israeli forces and settlers since January 2026. 
In July alone, the CRRC documented 2,256 attacks, including 798 carried out by settlers, resulting in the deaths of seven Palestinians and 440 incidents of property damage and land confiscation.
Analysts describe the violence as a deliberate political strategy. Israeli affairs researcher Esmat Mansour told The New Arab that the attacks represent a shift “from a phase of violence as reaction to a phase of violence as a political tool”. 
The surge is linked to Israel’s October elections, with settler groups racing to lock in facts on the ground before any potential shift in political power.
The blurring of lines between settler activity and state policy has been accelerated by far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who hold direct oversight over West Bank planning and policing. 
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese condemned Israeli attempts to further annex the West Bank, warning the measures amount to “deliberate, incremental steps toward permanent annexation, advanced piece by piece, in broad daylight, and with total impunity”.
The settlements are illegal under international law, and a 2024 International Court of Justice advisory opinion affirmed Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory as unlawful. 
The UN has documented that settler attacks now average 6.6 incidents daily, displacing thousands of Palestinians and further eroding prospects for a viable two-state solution.