West Bank Annexation: 333 building permits for Israelis to each 1 for Palestinians

JVL Introduction

Demolitions continue apace; “official” ones because Palestinians have built without (Israeli) permission as well as those caused by settler attacks. For decades the UN and others have made clear that getting permission to build for Palestinians is almost impossible. Data now reveals that only 66 permits were granted to Palestinians in the West Bank, on their own lands, over the past eleven years.  Over the same period 22,000 permits were given to Jewish Israelis to build in the West Bank; ie an average of 6 per year for Palestinians compared with 2,000 for illegal Israeli settlers.

Up to 80 whole Palestinian communities have been forced to move from their villages and hamlets.  The failure to allow Palestinians to build (and even just to repair some structures) has created a stranglehold over the West Bank for many years.  Annexation is almost complete.

On 18th February 2026, Francesca Albanese issued a statement condemining Israeli attempts to further annex West Bank.

LL

This article was originally published by Middle East Monitor on Sun 22 Feb 2026. Read the original here.