This week, H.E Consul General of the United Kingdom Ms. Helen Winterton visited the Balasan Initiative for Human Rights […]
On July 15, 2026, BIHR joined a meeting between The Elders and Palestinian civil society organisations in the West Bank, hosted by The Carter Center […]
On 1 July, the United States and Israel signed a 99-year lease agreement granting the United States a parcel of land in Jerusalem for one U.S. dollar per year to establish the permanent premises of the U.S. Embassy. The designated site is located within the former Allenby Barracks compound, on land that was privately owned by Palestinian families before 1948.
On 18 July 2026, Israeli occupation forces declared Husan, one of the villages in Bethlehem’s western rural area, a closed military zone. They imposed a comprehensive closure that effectively isolated it from its geographic surroundings, particularly from the neighboring villages of Nahalin and Battir. The measures extend to the closure of all main and secondary entrances to the village and the imposition of severe restrictions on the movement of residents and vehicles, disrupting all aspects of daily life inside the village.
On Tuesday, 14 July 2026, an Israeli Security Cabinet decision that was passed in March was de-classified to reveal the largest settlement plan yet: It approved the establishment of 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, allocating further 1.3 billion shekels for expediting the settlement process and the moving of settlers, and an additional 1 billion shekels to develop the needed infrastructure to serve the new settlements and their connectivity to each other.
Solomon’s Pools retain a distinctive place in Palestine’s historical and water landscape, representing an ancient and sophisticated system of water management that operated for centuries. They remained an integral part of the infrastructure extending from southern Bethlehem to Jerusalem, serving as a vital component of a life-sustaining water network linking communities. In recent years, however, their significance has extended beyond their historical value […]
Al Makhrour Valley, located west of Bethlehem between Beit Jala, Battir, Al Walajeh, Al Khader, and Husan, constitutes one of the last remaining Palestinian open landscapes in the Bethlehem governorate. In 2014, the valley was recognized as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Palestine: Land of Olives and Vines – Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir, reflecting its exceptional cultural, agricultural, and environmental significance […]
Settlement infrastructure in the occupied West Bank is closely linked to the growth of the settler population, as it creates the physical conditions needed for expansion. The construction of roads and other public services makes settlements more accessible and attractive for new residents. As infrastructure improves, settlements can accommodate larger populations and connect more closely with each other and within the Green Line, encouraging further deliberate, calculated and unlawful settler demographic growth inside occupied territory.
The water crisis affecting Palestinian communities in the southern West Bank must be understood within the broader framework of Israeli control over Palestinian water resources. Israel controls more than 85 percent of Palestinian water resources, while Palestinians remain increasingly dependent on water purchased from the Israeli national water company, Mekorot.
Since Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in 1967, the management of archaeological and historical sites that preserve Palestinian culture, narrative, collective memory, and history has become a critical issue. Many of these sites are located within the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) and hold immense importance for Palestinian communities. Consequently, their management has expanded beyond issues of conservation and tourism to encompass land use, access, governance, and the rights of the population in the occupied territories to self-determination and sovereignty. Israel has long sought to use these sites of exclusive territorial control and national identity and narrative building.
Since 7 October 2023, Israeli forces have largely intensified movement restrictions across the occupied West Bank. In Bethlehem, the Israeli forces installed 53 military gates across the governorate, most of which are permanently closed to Palestinian movement. In addition, cement blocks have been placed on 36 other roads throughout Bethlehem. Reports indicate that these restrictions have reached a total of 89 military gates, barriers, and concrete blocks, further intensifying the restrictive closure imposed on Bethlehem and contributing to its fragmentation and isolation.
As agriculture remains an important source of livelihood in the West Bank, this farming season provides a critical temporal lens to examine the cumulative pressures affecting agricultural access in the occupied West Bank and their devastating overall impact on Palestinian livelihoods, including movement restrictions, administrative access regimes, and settler crimes impacting farming communities.
Pastoral Settlement represents one of the most widely used and currently most dangerous forms of Israeli displacement and dispossession in the West Bank. It usually entails illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank centered around livestock grazing and shepherding. This is because the total grazing area amounts to approximately 2.2 million dunams (around 30% of the West Bank), 90% of which lies in Area “C”.
The settlement of Efrat constitutes one of the most dangerous Israeli settlement projects in the southern West Bank, given its central role in reshaping the political and demographic geography, specifically in the Bethlehem governorate. Yet, little attention is given to the danger it poses to more than 11 Palestinian villages and towns within the Bethlehem Governorate and profoundly threatens their future as a Palestinian historic and urban center.
Upon the initiation of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against multiple Israeli officials, Israel’s Finance Minister and Minister for the Ministry of Defense, Bezalel Smotrich, who is among the Israeli officials targeted in the new arrest warrants, vowed in a press conference on 19 May 2025 that he will sign evacuation orders for Khan Al-Ahmar in preparation for its demolition. He also announced that he will take revenge on the Palestinian Authority. In the same conference, Smotrich praised his role in advancing the establishment of more than 100 new settlements and 160 agricultural outposts in the West Bank
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Artas village in the southwest of Bethlehem is among the oldest continuously inhabited rural communities in Palestine, historically shaped by permanent agricultural settlement and sophisticated water-management systems. Its semi-enclosed geographic location between mountain ranges, combined with the abundance of natural springs, enabled the development of a fertile agricultural basin that sustained the village and its surroundings for centuries.
Today is the Palestinian Prisoners Day… this day serves as a stark reminder of the Israeli Occupation’s incarceration regime that constitutes one of the most complex and violent systems in the world. Designed as an instrument of colonial governance, this architecture of repression is currently holding approximately 9,600 Palestinian political prisoners. This includes 3,532 administrative detainees imprisoned without charge or trial, 342 child prisoners, and 84 women.
