Israel will begin a contentious land regulation process in a large part of the occupied West Bank, which could result in Israel gaining control over wide swaths of the area for future development, according to a government decision on Sunday.
The decision paves the way for the resumption of “settlement of land title” processes, which had been frozen in the West Bank since the Middle East War in 1967. It means that when Israel begins the land registration process for a certain area, anyone with a claim to the land must submit documents proving ownership.
“This move is very dramatic and allows the state to gain control of almost all of Area C,” said Hagit Ofran, the director of Israeli anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now. Area C refers to the 60% of the West Bank that is under full Israeli military control, according to agreements reached in the 1990s with the Palestinians.
The decision is the latest step to deepen Israeli control over the West Bank. In recent months, Israel has greatly expanded construction in Jewish settlements, legalized outposts and made significant bureaucratic changes to its policies in the territory to strengthen its hold and weaken the Palestinian Authority.
Sunday's decision was first announced last May but required further development before it was approved in this week’s Cabinet meeting.
Under the decision, Israeli authorities will announce certain areas to undergo registration, which will force anyone who has a claim to the land to prove their ownership.
Ofran said the process for proving ownership can be “draconian” and is rarely transparent, meaning any land that undergoes the registration process in areas currently owned by Palestinians is likely to revert to Israeli state control.
“Palestinians will be sent to prove ownership in a way that they will never be able to do,” Ofran told The Associated Press. "And this way Israel might take over 83% of the Area C, which is about half of the West Bank.”
The registration process could start as soon as this year, she said.
The proposal had been put forward by some of Israel’s far-right members of the ruling coalition, including the Minister of Justice Yariv Levin. “The government of Israel is committed to strengthening its grip on all its parts, and this decision is an expression of that commitment,” he said.
A ‘dangerous escalation’
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ office in a statement called the decision “a grave escalation and a flagrant violation of international law,” which amounts to “de facto annexation.” It called on the international community, especially the UN Security Council and the United States, to intervene immediately.
Previous US administrations have sharply condemned an expansion of Israeli activity and control in the West Bank, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a particularly close relationship with President Donald Trump. The two met last week in Washington, their seventh meeting in the past year.
And yet Trump has opposed annexation, Ofran noted.
Palestinians are not permitted to sell land privately to Israelis, though measures announced last week aim to nullify this. Currently, settlers can buy homes on land controlled by Israel’s government. Last week's decision also aimed to expand Israeli enforcement of several aspects of in the West Bank, including environmental and archaeological matters in Palestinian-administered areas.
More than 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 from Jordan and sought by the Palestinians for a future state. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in these areas to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.
Jordan's Foreign Ministry in a statement called on the international community to “assume its legal and moral responsibilities, and to compel Israel, the occupying power, to stop its dangerous escalation.”
Over 300,000 Palestinians are estimated to live in Area C of the West Bank, with many more in surrounding communities dependent on its agricultural and grazing lands, including plots for which families retain land deeds or tax records dating back decades.
