With the approval of a new law to register West Bank lands as state property, Israel is accelerating a decades-long process of annexing Palestinian territories.<\/p>\n
According to a report by the international service of Tabnak, the website ‘New Arab’ details the ongoing annexation and occupation of the West Bank by the Israeli regime.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, the Israeli cabinet approved the resumption of land registration in the occupied West Bank for the first time since 1967. This move allows the government to claim lands from Palestinians who cannot prove ownership.<\/p>\n
Just a week earlier, on February 8, the cabinet had approved new measures that expand the administrative, legal, and executive powers of the Israeli government in large areas of the West Bank currently under the administration of the Palestinian Authority (PA).Overall, these cabinet decisions reinforce Israel’s control over the occupied Palestinian territories by expanding settlement powers and transferring planning and enforcement authority from Palestinian municipalities to Israeli entities.<\/p>\n
These changes also lift long-standing restrictions on purchasing land owned by Palestinians, making it easier for Jewish settlers to acquire property in the West Bank. They are now permitted to seize or purchase properties beyond Area C\u2014which constitutes 60% of the West Bank\u2014into Areas A and B, which are under partial or complete civil control of the PA according to the Oslo Accords.<\/p>\n
Under the new arrangements, urban planning, construction permits, and infrastructure projects in the old city of Hebron and some areas near Bethlehem will also be conducted through Israeli military agencies and organizations associated with the settlers.These legal changes will also facilitate the demolition of homes in areas under PA jurisdiction for Israel.<\/p>\n
The transfer of these powers will intensify Israel’s control over culturally and religiously significant sites, such as the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron (known as the Tomb of the Patriarchs) and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem. Israeli entities will also oversee environmental and archaeological regulations in PA-administered areas.<\/p>\n
Israeli officials, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Minister of War Israel Katz, have openly stated that these new measures aim to annex the West Bank and ‘continue the destruction of the idea of a Palestinian state.’ Energy Minister Eli Cohen described these actions as ‘practical sovereignty’ over the occupied Palestinian lands.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing elections later this year, has long rejected the formation of any Palestinian state, viewing it as a security threat.<\/p>\n
Palestinian political analyst Javier Abu Eid stated in an interview with ‘New Arab’ that ‘Israel is clearly rejecting the two-state solution and instead proposes either genocide, as seen in Gaza, or an apartheid regime to solidify its colonial settlement project.’ He referred to the consensus among Israeli political parties regarding a one-state plan ‘from the river to the sea,’ which reflects their open opposition to the two-state solution supported by the international community.Analysts say Israel’s new actions represent a deliberate break from the Oslo Accords, which divided the West Bank into areas controlled by Israel and those with limited autonomy for the PA. These actions solidify practical annexation and bury the prospect of a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n
The acceleration of the annexation process comes despite former U.S. President Donald Trump’s public rejection of Israel’s annexation of the West Bank, although his administration took no steps to curb the rapid expansion of settlements, which Palestinians argue undermines their statehood aspirations. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza also recognized the Palestinian aspiration for statehood.Over 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem\u2014territories captured in 1967 that Palestinians claim alongside Gaza for their future state\u2014where settlement construction, deemed illegal under international law, has been repeatedly condemned by the United Nations.<\/p>\n
A senior representative of the ‘Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy’ (PIPD), who wished to remain anonymous, stated that every Israeli government has always intended to annex the West Bank. While previous administrations pursued this goal gradually, maintaining the appearance of a viable two-state solution, the current leadership is moving towards ‘complete, overt, practical, and legal annexation.’He added, ‘Israel has now removed the last legal barriers to its colonial actions,’ referring to the accelerated land confiscation and forced displacement of Palestinian communities.<\/p>\n
The war in Gaza has provided an opportunity to expedite the ongoing land seizure and displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank.<\/p>\n
Kamal Hawash, a British-Palestinian analyst and writer, remarked, ‘The issue is entirely about seizing more Palestinian land and compressing Palestinians into smaller areas to force them to leave their homeland.’ He also expressed concern regarding the ‘Absentee Property Law’ enacted in 1950, which allows Israel to confiscate the property of Palestinians who fled or were expelled after November 29, 1947\u2014when the UN recommended the partition of Palestine\u2014thus blocking the return or restitution of lost property from the Nakba of 1948.Abu Eid stated, ‘This is a full annexation. The reality exists right now; no one can claim ignorance of what is happening.’ In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared that occupation, annexation, settlement expansion, land confiscation, and exploitation of Palestinian resources by Israel are illegal.<\/p>\n
Abu Eid added, ‘Israel is taking bold steps to strengthen its position and acquire more Palestinian land, as it is confident that there will be no consequences for its crimes.’ The erasure of Palestinian identity and rights has been highlighted by Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who warned that Israel’s actions are accelerating the dispossession of Palestinians and forcibly transferring them, increasing settlement construction, and stripping more rights and resources from Palestinians.Countries around the world have condemned Israel’s actions to impose its illegal sovereignty, with UN officials calling for their reversal. However, no meaningful corrective action or sanctions have been taken against the violations of Palestinian rights so far.<\/p>\n
These decisions further weaken the already limited powers of the PA. A senior PIPD official pointed out that these regulations directly impact the ‘very limited powers’ of Palestinian leadership, questioning what the PA can do under Israeli control.<\/p>\n
He stated, ‘The PA does not have sovereignty over the majority of the West Bank. This entity cannot confront the military occupation or its colonial rule,’ while criticizing its complicity in maintaining the status quo, adding, ‘It is subservient to them.’Abu Eid emphasized that without a prospect for ending the occupation and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the PA cannot withstand Israel’s entrenched position and the lack of international action.<\/p>\n
He blamed governments and the international community for their inability to take even minimal punitive measures, stating that Israel must pay the price for decades of ongoing violations.<\/p>\n
He remarked, ‘If the international community does not understand that normalizing what is happening in Palestine means the end of even the prospect of a multilateral order based on rules, it has completely lost sight of the core issue.’Israel’s recent directives are the result of two years of devastating war in Gaza\u2014which the UN has labeled genocide\u2014and a broad military campaign in the West Bank that has displaced tens of thousands and destroyed several refugee camps. In January alone, 700 Palestinians were displaced.<\/p>\n
A member of the PIPD warned, ‘Israel has a clear path. Its Zionist colonial expansion continues and has now accelerated,’ urging the international community to take decisive action instead of remaining indifferent.Hawash described the intensified control over the West Bank as ‘an assault on all Palestinians’ asserting that Israel seeks to erase the Palestinian identity both as refugees and as a nation.<\/p>\n
He added ‘The issue is about ending Palestinian identity. They are not only opposed to a Palestinian state; they do not want anyone with a Palestinian identity to exist in this land.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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