The Israeli government, today, Sunday, approved a draft resolution to begin the process of settling and registering vast areas of the occupied West Bank lands under the name 'state lands'. This step is a legal precedent that has not occurred since the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, as it officially opens the door for transferring ownership of these lands to Israeli authorities and allocating them to settlers and the army.
Under the new decision, the 'Authority for the Registration and Settlement of Real Estate Rights' affiliated with the Israeli Ministry of Justice has been authorized to operate within the West Bank, instead of the Civil Administration affiliated with the army. This administrative shift aims to establish ownership of vast areas in the name of 'the State of Israel' in official records, and to provide huge budgets to end legal disputes in favor of settlement expansion.
This move comes as part of a package of legislations approved by the Ministerial Committee for National Security (the Cabinet) on February 8, with the aim of overturning the legal reality in the West Bank. Among the most prominent features of this change is the abolition of the Jordanian law that prevented settlers from directly purchasing land, which facilitates seizure operations without the need for intermediaries.
Palestinian sources warned that the decision extends beyond Area C to reach Areas A and B, which are administratively subject to the Palestinian Authority, by expanding demolition and surveillance powers under the pretext of environmental and archaeological protection. The decision also includes liquidating the 'Hebron Protocol' by withdrawing licensing powers from its municipality around the Ibrahimi Mosque, which means a complete undermining of the agreements signed in 1997.
For his part, political analyst Suleiman Bisharat considered that these decisions represent a new stage aimed at separating Palestinians from their land and reshaping the relationship in favor of the settler. He explained that Israel seeks to model the Jerusalem experience in Hebron and the rest of the West Bank cities, by establishing a new colonial identity that erases the historical equation of Palestinian existence.
On the political level, observers believe that the decision aims to kill any possibility of a connected Palestinian political umbrella, in exchange for strengthening a Jewish entity that forms the nucleus of a 'settlers' state'. This is done by abolishing the Ottoman and Jordanian laws that for decades formed the basis of proving Palestinian ownership, and replacing them with the Israeli legal system.
In reactions, the Palestinian Authority described the decision as 'de facto annexation' and a dangerous escalation that violates UN Resolution 2334, stressing that these measures will not change the legal fact that the West Bank is occupied territory. Hamas, in a statement, also considered the step to be 'public theft' and a continuation of the policy of settlement encroachment that necessitates a comprehensive national confrontation.
Internationally, Jordan, Qatar, and Turkey expressed their strong condemnation of the Israeli decision, considering it a blatant violation of international law and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice. These countries called on the international community to take immediate action to stop the annexation and forced displacement operations carried out by the occupation authorities in the Palestinian territories.
This decision is expected to lead to an unprecedented acceleration in the pace of settlement construction, as the lands will become 'legally available' for marketing as official properties in Israeli records. There are also fears of widespread field clashes with the entry of Israeli inspection and enforcement teams into the heart of Palestinian cities and towns previously classified as Palestinian sovereign territories.
This radical shift closes the geographical gaps that could have formed the basis of a future Palestinian state, effectively ending the two-state solution project. The far-right in the Israeli government seeks, through this 'revolution', to impose a permanent sovereign reality that treats the West Bank as an integral part of Israel, bypassing all international conventions and resolutions.
This step represents a settlement revolution aimed at consolidating Israeli sovereignty and preventing illegal seizure of lands.
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Israel approves 'settlement revolution' to register West Bank lands: Legal annexation ends post-1967 era