The Israeli government has announced plans to advance the registration of territory in the occupied West Bank as state land, a move Palestinians have condemned as “de facto annexation.”
For the first time since Israel occupied the territory in 1967, officials will implement a mechanism to formally register large swaths of land under the state. Israel’s Foreign Ministry of Israel described the move as an administrative effort to bring order to land registration, though ministers signaled the intent to expand settlements and consolidate control over the territory.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalal Smotrich stated the land registry would continue “the settlement and governance revolution across all parts of our land,” referencing Judea and Samaria, the biblical term for the West Bank. Justice Minister Yariv Levin added that Israel is “committed to strengthening its hold over all parts of our land, and this decision expresses that commitment.”
The new registration will apply to Area C, roughly 60 percent of the West Bank, home to an estimated 180,000–300,000 Palestinians and over 325,000 settlers, according to Israeli human rights group Btselem.
Palestinian authorities condemned the move as a violation of international law and an act of annexation. The Palestinian Presidency said it amounted to “declaration of the annexation plans aimed at entrenching the occupation through illegal settlement activity.”
Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan during the 1967 war and has since elished settlements widely regarded as illegal under international law by the United Nations and much of the global community. The UN considers both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories that Palestinians seek for a future independent state.
The Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now described the registration plan as “a massive land grab in the West Bank … completely against the will of the people and contrary to Israel’s best interests.”
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