The BIHR warns against serious developments in Al Makhrour Valley and its surrounding areas and villages in the West of the Bethlehem Governorate, namely in Battir, Hussan, Al Khader, Al Walajeh and Cremisan in Beit Jala- which signal an unprecedented and accelerated step towards materializing Israel’s illegal annexation objectives. The targeted areas are parts of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Bethlehem’s last remaining green area.
Recently, Israel’s ‘Blue Line’ Committee, part of the ‘Civil Administration’ has proceeded with amending boundary demarcations in the Battir village, adjacent to Al Makhrour Valley, resulting in ‘state land’ and Jewish property pre-1948 declarations in the area, a step which further entrenches Israeli de-facto annexation of vital areas in Battir. In addition, Israel has approved what was formerly known as the ‘Nahal Heletz’ settlement in Battir, now the ‘Bar Kochba” settlement, which, besides being illegally built on occupied territory and in the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will sever the geographic contiguity between Al Makhrour, Battir, Hussan, Al Kahder and Al Walajeh. The announced objective of this new settlement is to connect Gush Etzion settlements with each other and to Jerusalem.
In the same context, Israel relocated the Al-Walajeh checkpoint in 2025 deeper into the occupied West Bank, effectively cutting the Palestinian village of al-Walajeh off from large areas of its agricultural land, water resources, like Ein Haniyeh spring, and open spaces, including lands historically central to villagers’ livelihoods and social life. This shift places these areas on the Israeli side of the checkpoint, resulting in de facto annexation, tightening restrictions on movement, and further isolating the villages from their surroundings. More broadly, the move fits into a wider pattern of spatial control around Jerusalem that consolidates exclusive Israeli control, and facilitates settlement expansion in these areas.
As such, in light of the spread of the recent news of a Palestinian family winning a ‘legal’ case against Israeli settlers in Al Makhrour, and Irrespective of the outcomes of the ‘legal’ case in Al Makhrour, the BIHR warns that the threats of annexation in AL Makhrour and its surrounding areas and villages have in fact increased and not been reduced. The BIHR would like to clarify the following:
1- The case of Al Makhrour must be analyzed in the context of its geographic contiguity; Battir, Hussan, Cremisan, Al Kahder and Al Walajeh. The clear sequence of existing and newly-established Israeli settlements in the entire area of the Western Bethlehem, the annexation wall, increased military presence, home demolitions, and the relocation and installment of checkpoints, and the declarations of “state lands” and Jewish property pre-1948, all reflect a clear Israeli plans that are advancing in an accelerated and relentless manner towards annexing the entire area.
2- The case of Al Makhrour cannot be reduced to a ‘legal’ battle between a Palestinian family and Israeli settlers. Framing it only as such is both problematic and misleading. More importantly, framing it as such without providing full context on Israel’s annexation objectives of the entire area, its discriminatory planning systems in Area C as an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territory, and the Israeli judiciary, which has consistently failed to meaningfully challenge manifestly illegal policies and, over decades, has effectively legitimized them through routine approval, is very harmful to the cause of such vital areas.
3- While settler organizations are in the frontline in the land theft of occupied Palestinian lands, settlers do not operate in isolation from the Israeli government. The entirety of the settlement enterprise, including settlers, is sponsored and protected by Israel since its outset. Indeed, Israel’s quasi-constitutional law, the Nation-State Law, considers the settlement enterprise as a “national value”, even as international law clearly classifies settlements as a grave breach and a war crime. In Al Makhrour, the fight is against the annexation of the entire Valley as planned by consecutive Israeli governments, and not only against a settlers and their organizations.
4- Legally, winning the case of land ownership requires a definitive Supreme court decision acknowledging the ownership of the Palestinian family of the adjudicated piece of land. Until the definitive court decision is provided, the case cannot be claimed won. Yet, in the highly unlikely occasion that the Israeli Supreme Court did in fact deliver a decision acknowledging and confirming the ownership of the land by a Palestinian family, it still does not reduce the mounting and imminent threats of annexation in Al Makhrour, along with the Western parts of Bethlehem.