Jerusalem: Israel’s cabinet on Sunday greenlit measures to strengthen control over the occupied West Bank, streamlining land purchases for settlers—a step Palestinians denounced as “de-facto annexation.”
The West Bank, sought by Palestinians for a future state, remains largely under Israeli military control, with limited self-rule in Palestinian Authority (PA)-administered areas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing elections later this year, views any Palestinian state as a security threat. His coalition, bolstered by pro-settler hardliners seeking full West Bank annexation—citing biblical and historical claims to territory captured in the 1967 war—approved initiating land registration for the first time since then.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right ally, hailed it as “continuing the revolution of settlement and strengthening our hold across all parts of our land.” Defense Minister Israel Katz called the registration a vital security step ensuring Israeli control, enforcement, and operational freedom to protect citizens and national interests.
The cabinet framed it as countering “illegal land registration processes promoted by the Palestinian Authority,” aiming to resolve disputes.
The PA presidency condemned the decision as “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 rejected West Bank annexation but his administration has not restrained Israel’s accelerated settlement expansion, which Palestinians argue erodes their prospective state’s land.
The UN’s top court ruled in a 2024 non-binding opinion that Israel’s occupation and settlements are illegal and must end promptly; Israel rejects this, asserting historical and biblical rights.
This land registration builds on earlier monthly measures to expand Israeli control.
(Inputs from Reuters)