A growing ring of illegal Palestinian Arab construction in Area C is physically encircling Jerusalem—disrupting Israel’s security buffer, neutralizing deterrence, and creating what analysts are now calling a “strategic chokehold” around the nation’s capital.

The findings, published in a detailed geographic study by the Regavim movement, outline a pattern of calculated, large-scale construction designed not for growth—but for control. The report follows stark warnings issued by the Israeli State Comptroller, who cited structural vulnerabilities in Jerusalem’s security perimeter in a recent post-October 7 audit.

“The massive illegal Arab construction around Jerusalem is not coincidental in its location, but is based on a strategy of controlling key points and creating a choking ring around Jerusalem,” Yehuda Noam, Regavim’s Jerusalem director, told Israeli media.

A strategic map of illegality

The Regavim analysis maps more than 40,000 illegal structures in a radial belt around Jerusalem, all built without permits in areas under full Israeli civil and security control—Area C.

The data is broken down into three strategic rings:

• Contact Zone (0–1 km from city limits): Some 8,000 illegal buildings have been documented within one kilometer of Jerusalem’s municipal boundary. This erases what should be a sterile security buffer and enables unmonitored access into city neighborhoods.

• Intermediate Belt (up to 4 km): Another 14,000 structures have filled the space between villages and existing population centers—effectively connecting smaller Arab towns into a continuous topographic presence along key access routes to the capital.

• Outer Ring (up to 6 km): Here, an additional 18,000 illegal structures form what the report calls a “hostile territorial continuum,” linking the Hebron Hills in the south to Samaria in the north—all through the Jerusalem corridor.

The result is a civilian-built encirclement of Israel’s capital, undermining both strategic depth and state sovereignty.

Urban warfare in plain sight

According to the report, this is not a housing crisis. It’s strategic warfare through civilian construction. The locations of the buildings, which offer line-of-sight control over major Israeli roads and entry routes, appear to be chosen with intent—targeting soft spots in Israeli defensive posture and bypassing legal oversight.

This creates not only a challenge to enforcement, but a clear tactical advantage for hostile actors. “The physical infrastructure now serves as camouflage for terror and infiltration,” said Noam. “Security maneuverability in this zone is rapidly approaching zero.”

Collapse by neglect

Israel’s national security agencies are not blind to this trend, but bureaucratic fragmentation and political hesitation have hamstrung decisive action. While defense officials debate border fencing and surveillance upgrades, hundreds of illegal structures continue to rise—unimpeded and strategically placed.

“The State Comptroller’s focus on fence upgrades misses the point,” said Noam. “Terror doesn’t begin at the fence—it begins with ideological hostility, territorial retreat, and failed enforcement.”

His prescription is unambiguous: national strategy must reorient around territorial control, visible enforcement, and demographic resilience. The current trajectory, he warns, leads to urban encirclement, infiltration, and eventual loss of strategic initiative.

What’s at stake

Jerusalem is not just a city. It is Israel’s capital, its spiritual heart, and its geopolitical anchor. To lose strategic clarity around its perimeter is to invite operational collapse at the core.

It’s not about real estate. It’s about sovereignty. And right now, Israel is surrendering it—one illegal structure at a time.

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