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Israel’s cabinet has implemented new measures to strengthen its control over the occupied West Bank, aiming to ease the process for settlers to purchase land. This move, described by Palestinians as a ‘de facto annexation,’ has stirred controversy.
The West Bank is a region that Palestinians aspire to include in a future independent state.
Currently, much of the area remains under Israeli military governance, though the Palestinian Authority, supported by Western nations, exercises limited self-governance in certain parts.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is gearing up for an election later this year, regards the formation of a Palestinian state as a potential security risk.
His governing coalition, which includes several pro-settler advocates, is pushing for Israel to annex the West Bank. This territory was seized during the 1967 Middle East war, and Israel claims it based on biblical and historical connections.
Ministers voted in favour of beginning a process of land registration for the first time since 1967.
“We are continuing the revolution of settlement and strengthening our hold across all parts of our land,” said finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right member of Netanyahu’s government.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said land registration was a vital security measure designed to ensure control, enforcement, and full freedom of action for Israel in the area to protect its citizens and safeguard national interests.
The cabinet said in a statement that registration was an “appropriate response to illegal land registration processes promoted by the Palestinian Authority” and would end disputes.
The PA presidency rejected the cabinet’s decision, saying it constitutes “a de facto annexation of occupied Palestinian territory and a declaration of the commencement of annexation plans aimed at entrenching the occupation through illegal settlement activity”.
US 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, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.
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.
The land registration adds to a series of measures taken earlier this month to expand control.
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