Since September 2025, Israeli forces have been besieging 16 Palestinian villages across the area to the northwest of the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem by carrying out raids, erecting checkpoints, and closing village entrances. As a result, 70,000 Palestinians’ daily lives are being severely hindered.1

According to the Jerusalem Governorate, the Palestinian Authority (PA) agency overseeing Jerusalem, the besieged villages northwest of Jerusalem are Rafat, Qalandiya al-Balad, al-Judayra, al-Jib, Bir Nabala, Beit Hanina al-Balad, Biddu, al-Qubayba, Beit Duqqu, Beit Surik, Qatanna, Beit Ijza, Khirbat al-Lahm, Nabi Samwil, al-Khalayla, and Beit Iksa (see also Israel Alters Legal Status of Palestinians in Three Jerusalem-Area Villages, Rendering Them ‘Temporary Residents’).2

Muqaf al-Khatib, head of the Jerusalem Governorate’s Northwest Jerusalem Unit, explained that the Israeli army hasn’t been consistent with the timing of when it opens and closes the villages or how vehicular access is regulated. At times, it only allows traffic to access the villages in one direction.

Al-Khatib described the ongoing siege on northwestern Jerusalem as paralyzing Palestinian movement and ultimately disrupting residents’ way of life. “With these restrictions, teachers who teach in village schools are experiencing a lot of delays and difficulties on a daily basis. Reaching the schools has become very unpredictable,” al-Khatib told Jerusalem Story.3 “Also, there are a lot of farming lands in al-Jib, Beit Iksa, and other places, and residents are not able to access them.”

The closures affect Palestinians’ ability to access Jerusalem. “It is becoming like a dream now to reach their center of living,” al-Khatib said. “They depend on East Jerusalem for shopping, clinics, schools, and more. This isn’t possible for them anymore—to connect to East Jerusalem.”

In addition to barricading these towns, the Israeli army has installed approximately 1,000 yellow iron gates at village entrances in the area northeast of municipal Jerusalem since Israel launched its genocide on Gaza on October 7, 2023, al-Khatib said. Most recently, on September 17, 2025, gates were erected at the entrances to the towns of al-Ram, Mukhamas, and Hizma (see Perspective: Color-Coded Gates and Frightening Uncertainty in Bethany).

“It’s simply a way to separate villages from each other, to try to decrease the number of people in these villages and to stop population growth,” al-Khatib said. “It’s land grabbing, and it’s a form of separation between one relative and the other if they live in different villages.”

The recent uptick in Israeli army raids and movement restrictions started just after the September 8, 2025, fatal shooting attack carried out by Qatanna resident Mohammad Taha and al-Qubayba resident Muthanna Amro at a junction in the Israeli settlement of Ramot in East Jerusalem.4

In the wake of the attack, the Israeli army imposed a curfew on Biddu and Qatanna, invaded surrounding villages, and assaulted and detained residents.5 In al-Qubayba, local media reported the Israeli army seized a residential building under construction and turned it into a military outpost.6

Israeli army raids persisted for weeks after the attack. In Kufr ‘Aqab, a Palestinian neighborhood located beyond the Israeli Separation Wall but within the Jerusalem boundaries (see Neighborhoods beyond the Wall), a joint force of Israeli police and soldiers stormed homes and shot a Palestinian boy on October 16, 2025.7

Rami Saleh, branch director of the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center, had a different interpretation. “Israel said that all of the houses that were built without a permit, even if they’re in the process of obtaining a permit, are going to be demolished,” he told Jerusalem Story.10 It is “a punitive measure,” a form of “collective punishment.”

The Israeli military detonated both of the attackers’ family homes on September 27, 2025,11 and October 10, 2025,12 damaging several nearby homes in the process.

The Palestinian town of ‘Anata (officially est. population of 30,000, of whom an estimated 13,000 are Israeli permanent residents) lies northeast of Jerusalem. It already has seen 90 percent of its 32,000 dunums confiscated by Israel, and its jurisdiction divided three ways, between the municipality of ‘Anata, the municipality of Jerusalem, and UNRWA.13 The town is further severed from Jerusalem by the Separation Wall and hemmed in by five existing Israeli settlements (see Settlements). “The Separation Wall has effectively besieged ‘Anata from all four sides,” ‘Anata Mayor Taha Numan told Jerusalem Story. He added that although “‘Anata’s official population is 30,000, the actual number exceeds 100,000 due to the annexation of the Shu‘fat refugee camp, Ras Khamis, and Bedouin communities.”14

He further explained, “‘Anata is located in Area C, meaning it is under full Israeli civilian and security control, and therefore, we are completely isolated, unable to develop the town or even improve its infrastructure.”

In September 2025, authorities confiscated 140 dunams of land in the town for parking lots and expanding roads leading to the Ma’ale Adumim settlement in preparation for the recently approved E1 settlement (see Israel Approves E1 Settlement to “Bury the Idea of a Palestinian State).15

Shortly after, in late October, the army announced that they would begin confiscating large swathes of land in ‘Anata for “military necessities.” The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate explains that the targeted area is 5,856 dunams, 602 of which are privately owned by Palestinian residents of the town.16 

On November 2, 2025, Israel established a new settlement outpost on five dunums of the remaining town’s land, recently seized via a military order.17

The new land allocations in the town have exacerbated the crisis facing the town, which has already seen the occupation confiscate the vast majority of its land.

Mohammed Musa, 35, a resident of ‘Anata, said that because of the military checkpoint erected at the entrance to Shu‘fat refugee camp, camp residents are forced to use the road through ‘Anata to get out, exacerbating the traffic congestion and worsening the already dire health and social conditions, given the complete lack of suitable roads.

He added that the recent land confiscation will further suffocate the town, especially since the road slated for expansion at the expense of ‘Anata’s land will not be used by Palestinians. “This means we are losing land that could serve as a vital breathing space; we are suffocating in ‘Anata,” he told Jerusalem Story.18

Ferial Saeed, 23, said, “Imagine, we’re already suffering from a crippling traffic crisis due to the narrow streets and the high number of people using them. And now, the land confiscation is exacerbating the problem. The confiscated land could have been [used to develop] an additional street for the residents of the town and surrounding areas, alleviating the crisis.”19

She added, “There are no green spaces for our children in ‘Anata, no public parks, because the occupation has confiscated all the land. Even the only public park we had for the children was demolished by the occupation under the pretext that it was too close to the wall that restricts our movement and that it was unlicensed. Imagine, there’s no health clinic in ‘Anata, because the occupation prevents medical teams from Ramallah from reaching us, even though we’re part of the West Bank and Jerusalem is only a few kilometers away. In short, our lives are hell.”

Thus, the residents of ‘Anata are trapped between the wall, land confiscation, restrictions, and a lack of infrastructure.

To make matters even worse, Israeli authorities have been demolishing buildings in the area.20

On October 23, 2025, Israeli authorities issued demolition orders for large industrial facilities at the entrance of the town. Marouf al-Rifai, advisor to the Jerusalem Governorate, told WAFA that Israeli troops stormed the entrance to the town and distributed demolition notices targeting shacks, iron factories, and furniture factories.21 He added that the move is part of ongoing effort to construct a road, a roundabout, and a bridge connecting the ‘Anata Junction to the Hizma checkpoint, as part of the Greater Jerusalem and the E1 plans (see below).

Al-Rifai said that the authorities do not want any Palestinian facilities along the path of this project, and demolitions have been repeated in the area under various pretexts, such as lack of building permits or proximity to the wall. According to WAFA, “He further warned that what is happening at the entrance to ‘Anata and al-Zaim Street is part of a plan to build a new colonial road in the near future, with the aim of preventing Palestinians from using Abu George Street, which leads to the Jerusalem-Jericho Road, and is designated exclusively for settlers. As a result, the ‘Anata/Al-Zaim entrance would be reserved for Palestinian movement only, connecting ‘Anata, al-Zaim, and the Hizma checkpoint roundabout.”22

On November 5, 2025, a number of homes belonging to the Bedouin al-Karshan family were demolished.23 On November 19, authorities demolished the home of ‘Anata resident Raed Hajjaj Fheidat for the second time. (The first time was February 22, 2025.)24 This is despite the fact that the house fell within Area B land, according to the Jerusalem Governorate.25

Authorities have issued expulsion and demolition orders for dozens more homes and structures in the town. According to the governorate: “The town of ‘Anata is witnessing continuous semiweekly demolitions, along with the distribution of evacuation and demolition notices spanning dozens of houses and buildings, on the pretext of taking place in the so-called isolated areas or for carrying out colonial projects and infrastructure serving the colonies and the [Separation] Wall.”26

Before 1967, ‘Anata was situated on a major thoroughfare, its vast 35,000 dunams—from the eastern edge of Jerusalem down into the valleys near Jericho—resplendent with wheat fields and olive trees. Today, it is an atrophying ghetto.

Looking at the map recently presented by Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich as part of his plan to annex 82 percent of the West Bank, alongside of Israel’s plans for a “Metropolitan Jerusalem” region and an expanded “Greater” Jerusalem city, as well as its future vision for Jerusalem as documented in Plan 5800—Jerusalem 2050, the likely aims of this intensification come into focus.

As envisioned in the plan:

Here we learn that even Palestinian cities deep in the West Bank are designated for a future as existing within a surrounding Jewish landscape. This is starkly illustrated by the map recently presented by Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, shown below, when he was detailing a proposed Israeli annexation of 82 percent of the West Bank on September 3, 2025.

Greater Jerusalem refers to the 440 square kilometer region encompassing Jerusalem and its suburbs, which Israel is planning to incorporate into the city’s official boundaries. Seventy-five percent of the area of “Greater Jerusalem” lies within territories occupied in 1967, which includes, in addition to the eastern side of Israeli municipal Jerusalem, three major Jewish settlements or settlement blocs, to the east, south, and north of the city, respectively, each with its own regional and local self-government (separate from the city) (see What Is Jerusalem?).

Metropolitan Jerusalem refers to the 1,000 square kilometer region encompassing Jerusalem and its suburbs and hinterlands, including the Ramallah region in the north and the Bethlehem region in the south. Like “Greater Jerusalem,” “Metropolitan Jerusalem” is a planning area where Israel is developing and connecting rural settlements and satellite settlements to the urban core as well as to one another following various Master Plans that utilize the engineering of housing, public space, roads, and more to that end. The envisioned metropolitan region is shown here.28

The plan aims at strengthening the urban core of Jerusalem in relation to settlements in the region and the transformation of West Bank areas around Jerusalem into “hinterlands dependent upon an Israeli-controlled urban area.”

According to this logic and future vision, and as events are unfolding on the ground today, Palestinians should be concentrated in a small number of urban ghettoes, and any smaller localities should be forcibly emptied and removed and pushed into them.

This is the reality of today’s West Bank, and the residents of these villages around Jerusalem are in grave peril.