(TPS) The continuing illegal construction under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in what is known as Area C – the parts of Judea and Samaria under full Israeli control according to the terms of the 1993 Oslo Accords – is intended to establish new “facts on the ground” there. Now, a new report from Regavim shows that in 2022, illegal Palestinian construction there increased by 80%.

The study covered the period of April 2021 through April 2022, analyzing the number of structures, the legal status of the land on which they were built and the jurisdictional lines dictated by international law.

The Regavim report documents 5,535 new illegal structures built in 2022, compared to 3,076 structures in the same period in 2021. It is based on data collected through meticulous fieldwork, aerial photography, and GIS mapping, comparing the situation on the ground in 2021 to that of 2022.

Regavim stressed that the structures built in recent months are not temporary shacks or makeshift shelters that characterized much of the illegal activity in earlier years; in 2022, new Palestinian construction is characterized by “palatial residences, sprawling holiday resorts, amusement and entertainment compounds and event halls, swimming pools and vacation villages, and high-rise residential and commercial towers.”

In addition to the mass-scale construction, in many areas development and infrastructure work was carried out to lay the groundwork for future full-scale neighborhoods, such as at Khirbet Khattha near Tarkumiyeh and Lakef near Karnei Shomron.

According to Regavim’s research, there are 81,317 illegal Arab-built structures in this area, covering an area of approximately 150,000 dunams (38,000 acres) – twice the total area of Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria all told, legal and illegal. Illegal Jewish construction stands at 4,382 structures, of which 406 new structures were built in the time period of the new study. Although the disparity in number is striking, it is far overshadowed by the disparity in quality: Whereas illegal Arab-built structures are located in desolate, remote areas far from existing villages or settlement clusters, all of the illegal construction in the Jewish sector is located within the municipal “blue line” boundaries of Jewish settlements.

This new construction is continuing despite the fact that the PA certainly has plenty of open areas in which to build that are under its jurisdiction called Areas A and B. Aerial photos show that in these areas there are abundant empty spaces that remain undeveloped and completely unutilized.

Regavim also stated that the aerial photos “leave no room for doubt” that, in its opinion, Arab construction is “neither random nor haphazard. Construction is strategically placed, in accordance with the Fayyad Plan, according to pre-established criteria and objectives: Creating contiguous Arab settlement – a pattern that is particularly pronounced in northern Samaria.”

Regavim stated that the plan is to cause the isolation and “strangulation” of Jewish communities, and placed the blame for all of this squarely on the shoulders of Yair Lapid’s outgoing coalition government. Regavim feels that Lapid’s government has deliberately avoided dealing with the issue as it needed the support of Arab Parties in the Knesset when it was formed in June 2021 and may need this support again to form a new government after the November elections.

See: Why Is Israel Protecting Illegal Palestinian Arab Construction?

“The Israeli government is creating a de facto Palestinian state,” said Meir Deutsch, Director General of Regavim. “Over the years we have documented the illegal construction on a daily basis and sounded the alarm about the Palestinian annexation of Judea and Samaria, but the most recent construction data are clear and unequivocal: Under the present government there has been a meteoric rise in the extent of illegal construction and the Palestinian takeover of land. This is not a warning light – it’s a wailing, deafening siren. Before our eyes, a Palestinian state is taking shape – and it is already posing an existential threat to the future of the State of Israel. The data indicate that the present government did not merely turn a blind eye to this phenomenon; this a clear and conscious policy, reflected in recent statements by Interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid regarding the creation of a Palestinian state.”

However, Minister of Defense Benny Gantz recently announced that his government is “enforcing the law against illegal construction in area C – on both sides, both Jewish and Arab, and I am proud of it.”

But Regavim countered that its data indicate that Gantz’s statement should be cause for concern “primarily because it exposes the Minster of Defense’s complete failure to grasp the impact and inevitable outcome of failure to protect the territory under Israel’s jurisdiction,” said Deutsch.

Regavim is a public movement dedicated to the protection of Israel’s national lands and resources throughout the country.