Reuters. Palestinian officials and an Israeli settlement watchdog group condemned on Monday (February 16) an Israeli decision on West Bank land registration, saying the move will lead to a de-facto takeover of Palestinian lands.
On Sunday (February 15), Israel's cabinet approved further measures to tighten Israel's control over the occupied West Bank and make it easier for settlers to buy land.
Ministers voted in favour of beginning a process of land registration for the first time since 1967, a week after approving another series of measures in the West Bank that drew international condemnation.
The West Bank is among the territories that Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat and many of its members want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.
Palestinian Director General of Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ), Dr. Jad Isaac, told Reuters that the move will allow Israel to take control over more than 80% of West Bank territory.
Hagit Ofran of the Israeli settlement watchdog group Peace Now says that, according to international law, it is illegal for an occupier to register land and that the move was aimed at appropriating land from Palestinians.
Wasel Abu Youssef of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) called the move a "declaration of war for the Palestinian people."
Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Oren Marmorstein rejected the accusation saying it is designed regularize land law and "bring order to land registration."
U.S. President Donald Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building.
The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there are illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.
