Israel Defies Sanctions With West Bank Settlements Cash

What happens when Israel’s allies punish settler networks on Monday and Israel moves to fund more West Bank settlements days later?

That was the split running through this week’s Palestine news: outside pressure rose, but Israel’s settlement machinery kept moving. France barred Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, six Western states targeted networks financing settler violence, and Amnesty International accused Israel of a “state-sponsored” ethnic cleansing campaign in the West Bank, according to Al Jazeera.

Israel’s answer, as reported by Peace Now, was to advance funding for 69 settlements in a plan worth $388m. The same week, the Israeli military announced a permanent post in Jenin refugee camp, a move Al Jazeera described as the first standing presence inside Area A since the Oslo framework.

Can West Bank settlements expand while allies sanction settlers?

Yes, and that is the central fact of the week.

On June 9, France banned Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, along with four settler organisation leaders and 21 individual settlers. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot cited Smotrich’s promotion of West Bank annexation, the resettlement of Gaza, and the engineered “economic collapse” of the Palestinian Authority.

That same day, France, the United Kingdom, Canada and Norway, coordinating with Australia and New Zealand, sanctioned networks financing settler violence. Al Jazeera does not detail the mechanics of those sanctions in the supplied material. The key point is narrower and sharper: allied governments moved against actors tied to settler violence while Israel continued backing the settlement project.

XOOMAR analysis: The pressure is getting more personal. These measures did not target only unknown local militants. They reached settler organisation leaders, individual settlers, financing networks, and one of the most senior pro-settlement politicians in Israel’s government.

Why did the sanctions land in the same week as settlement funding?

Because the West Bank is now the point where diplomatic warnings and Israeli policy are colliding.

On June 10, Amnesty International accused Israel of running a years-long, state-sponsored campaign of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank designed to speed annexation. The Israeli military rejected the charge.

At the UN Security Council that day, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of a “presumption of impunity” across the occupied territory.

Guterres cited settler violence “now averaging six attacks per day”, displacement “at levels not seen since 1967”, and an attempted annexation that he said would have “no legal validity”.

Within days, Peace Now said the Israeli cabinet moved to fund 69 settlements through a $388m plan while bypassing standard planning procedures. The group also said the government has approved or legalised 103 settlements since late 2022, including 51 entirely new ones.

The most sensitive sites named by Peace Now were in the South Hebron Hills and the Jordan Valley. Those areas matter because they shape territorial continuity, access, and control. More funding means more infrastructure, more state support, and more facts on the ground.

Why does the Jenin military post change the West Bank equation?

Because it cuts into the old territorial logic of Oslo.

On June 11, Haaretz reported that the Israeli military said it was establishing a permanent post in Jenin refugee camp. Al Jazeera described it as the first standing presence within Area A since Oslo, where Palestinian authorities were meant to hold full civil and security control.

The army said the post would “regulate the deployment of forces”.

That phrasing is dry. The implication is not. A permanent military presence inside Area A signals that the division between Israeli-controlled and Palestinian-administered zones is becoming less meaningful in practice.

XOOMAR analysis: This is why West Bank settlements are no longer just a construction issue. The week’s events show three tracks moving together: settlement funding, settler outpost expansion, and deeper Israeli military positioning inside areas formally assigned to Palestinian control.

How did settler activity on the ground match the cabinet’s direction?

It matched it almost point for point.

In Deir Abu Mash’al, northwest of Ramallah, residents spent six consecutive days trying to stop settlers from establishing an illegal outpost on al-Qarana hill. After villagers repeatedly dismantled a settler tent, settlers erected a second on June 15, attacking residents and a council member and injuring four Palestinians, one critically, according to Wafa and local activists cited by Al Jazeera.

Settlers also expanded outposts elsewhere:

• Karmeilo: Mobile units were brought east of al-Taybeh.
• Gharaba outpost: Caravans were unloaded northwest of Sinjil.
• Jalud, Qaryut and Khirbet Sarra plains: Settlers seized hundreds of dunums, units of land, south of Nablus, according to local activists.

Settler chat groups, Al Jazeera reported, circulated a manifesto boasting of “endless tours through Areas A and B” and “new outposts growing like mushrooms after rain”.

The raids were not only about tents and caravans. On June 14, according to Wafa and local activists, 50 to 60 masked, armed settlers attacked Deir Dibwan and neighbouring Burqa, east of Ramallah. They torched six vehicles, partially burned a home, and set fire to mosque entrances in both villages before residents put out the flames.

Why is water becoming part of the West Bank pressure campaign?

Because for herding and Bedouin communities, water access can decide whether families stay or leave.

Al Jazeera reported that Israeli authorities issued demolition and stop-work orders against 13 structures in al-Deirat and six in Khallet al-Hamous near Yatta. Authorities also demolished homes of the al-Zawahra family at Mikhmas, demolished others east of Yatta, and razed a poultry slaughterhouse in Ras Karkar that supported 50 people.

On June 15, in the Ighziwah and Ma’in areas east of Yatta, forces demolished two family homes housing 25 people, two agricultural sheds, a perimeter wall, a 130-cubic-metre water well, and uprooted

Impact Analysis

• Western allies are increasingly targeting settler-linked actors while Israel continues to fund settlement expansion.
• The $388m plan for 69 settlements signals that sanctions have not halted Israel’s settlement machinery.
• A permanent Israeli military post in Jenin refugee camp could mark a major shift in control inside Area A.