RAMALLAH — Israeli authorities have published a tender to build 732 housing units in the Gva'ot settlement west of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said in a statement on Monday, November 9. The tender, numbered 261/2026, appears in the Israel Land Authority's registry, the Petra news agency reported from Ramallah.

Source: Petra via FANA News, Nov 9 2026

According to the Commission's review of the tender documents, Tender No. 261/2026 covers the first phase of the project and includes multi-storey residential buildings as well as commercial facilities, public buildings and institutions. Bids can be submitted from December 1 to December 28. A separate non-residential tender, No. 263/2026, was published alongside it for the same site, covering land designated for commercial and operational uses, public buildings and institutions.

Source: Petra via FANA News, Nov 9 2026

The Commission stressed that publication of a tender does not mean construction has begun or that a contract has been awarded — but it described the step as a practical move toward turning the approved plans into reality. Data compiled by the Commission from Israel Land Authority records show at least 28 tenders for marketing land in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, were published between the start of 2026 and November 8.

Source: Daily Imroz, Nov 9 2026

Gva'ot: from Alon Shvut neighbourhood to a planned town

Gva'ot was established as a neighbourhood of the Alon Shvut settlement in the Gush Etzion bloc south-west of Bethlehem and was authorised by the Israeli government as an independent settlement in March 2025, according to the Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now. On June 3, 2026, Israel's Higher Planning Council gave final approval to 1,006 housing units at Gva'ot under Plan A418/2/1 — a plan Peace Now said would give the settlement an urban character. Monday's 732-unit tender is the marketing step that follows that approval: it offers the first phase of the approved plan to builders.

Source: Peace Now, Settlement Watch

According to official Palestinian figures cited by Press TV, approximately 750,000 Israeli settlers live in 194 settlements and 400 outposts across the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those figures are the Palestinian authorities' own count and are reported here with that attribution.

Source: Press TV, Nov 9 2026

Separate military land orders reported near Bethlehem

In a separate development reported over the weekend, a PLO-affiliated committee that monitors settlement activity said Israeli authorities had issued four military orders to seize roughly 15 dunams — about 1.5 hectares — of land near Bethlehem, with orders also providing for trees on the land to be uprooted, TRT Haber reported. No immediate comment from Israeli officials on those orders was reported. Awaaz Punjab is carrying that item as a single-source, attributed report alongside the tender story, not as independently verified fact.

Source: TRT Haber via Vesper News, Nov 8 2026

The Gva'ot tender is the largest single West Bank housing tender reported this month, following the smaller Oranit tenders and the revised E1 timetable reported last week. Read: Israel tenders 91 Oranit units, revises E1 schedule

What happens next

The bidding window runs through December, after which a winning bidder would still need contracts and permits before any building starts — a process that can take a year or more. Palestinian officials say each tender entrenches settlement growth around Bethlehem and narrows the land available for Palestinian urban development; Israeli officials present Gush Etzion as a longstanding bloc whose growth is a matter of housing and planning. What is not in dispute is the paper trail: the plan was approved in June, and as of Monday its first 732 homes are formally on the market to builders.