Pastoral settlement outposts have expanded in the West Bank as a low-cost means of establishing de facto control over large areas. Some begin with a tent or mobile room, a fence and a small herd before expanding into surrounding grazing areas, water sources and land, according to reports by Israeli rights groups monitoring settlements.
Pastoral farms as low-cost footholds
This model allows a family or a small number of settlers to establish a foothold at a strategic site without building a full settlement, which requires housing units, roads and services. The farm’s reach is not limited to its structures but expands with the movement of herds and the prevention of Palestinians from reaching their land.
The Israeli rights group Yesh Din said livestock farms had become a tool for changing the settlement map and imposing a long-term reality on Palestinian land. According to the group, weapons, vehicles, dogs and drones are among the means used to entrench these outposts, protect the sites and restrict Palestinians’ movement.
Expanding arms and security in settlements
The spread of this model coincided with an increase in the number of civilian gun owners in Israel from about 170,000 to nearly 300,000. In March 2026, Israel’s National Security Ministry said more than 240,000 Israelis, including about 70,000 settlers, had obtained gun licences since the policy began, which the ministry described as a “reform” following the latest war on Gaza.
The authorities also strengthened civilian security teams in the settlements, giving them a شبه-military character through training supervised by the Israeli military and by supplying them with weapons and equipment. This system enables a limited number of settlers to operate in remote areas and expand the farms’ sphere of influence.
The Israeli rights group B’Tselem says a farm does not require a large number of armed people: a small family or limited group, supported by weapons and surveillance and protection equipment, can impose its presence over an area larger than its immediate facilities. It also said Israeli support includes funding, equipment, security structures, land-allocation mechanisms and permission to graze.
Restrictions on grazing areas and water threaten livelihoods
Restricting access to grazing areas and wells affects the main source of income for Palestinian Bedouin and pastoral communities, which rely on livestock. According to Yesh Din, the pressure includes chasing and attacking herds, preventing grazing, and damaging property, crops and water sources, reducing families’ ability to continue living on their land.
During the same period, the activity extended to at least 11,520 dunams of Palestinian fields, orchards and vineyards by preventing their owners from reaching them or displacing those who used them, according to the report. It also included the construction of 223 kilometres of unlicensed dirt roads, about half of them running through privately owned Palestinian land, to link the outposts and farms and expand their reach.
The report linked these practices to the displacement of 118 Palestinian communities as a result of settler attacks and abuses. As farms are repeatedly established in open areas, scattered outposts become a network that affects Palestinians’ movement and their use of land and water.
