Palestinians, several Arab states and Israeli anti-occupation organisations have denounced new measures approved by Israel’s security cabinet for the occupied West Bank, warning they amount to a form of de facto annexation.
The steps were announced by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said they would make it easier for Jewish settlers to acquire Palestinian land. “We will continue to eliminate the idea of a Palestinian state,” he declared. Under international law, Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are widely considered illegal.
The measures, which still require formal approval from Israel’s top military commander in the West Bank, are designed to expand Israeli control over land management, planning, licensing and enforcement across the territory. They were unveiled just days before a scheduled meeting in Washington between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump.
According to Israeli officials, the changes include lifting a decades-old ban on the direct sale of West Bank land to Jews and declassifying local land registry records. Until now, settlers were generally limited to purchasing property through registered companies on land under Israeli state control. The government also plans to scrap the requirement for special transaction permits when buying real estate, a move that significantly reduces oversight.
Israeli ministers have presented the reforms as a way to improve transparency and streamline land transactions. Palestinians, however, fear the measures will intensify pressure on landowners to sell and open the door to fraud and coercion.
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas described the decision as “dangerous”, accusing Israel of openly seeking to legitimise settlement expansion, land confiscation and the demolition of Palestinian property, including in areas under Palestinian administration. He urged the United States and the UN Security Council to intervene.
Israeli watchdog group Peace Now warned that the cabinet’s decision could further weaken the Palestinian Authority and effectively cancel existing agreements. It accused the government of removing safeguards against large-scale land seizures in the West Bank.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar condemned Israel’s move, saying it accelerated illegal annexation efforts and the displacement of Palestinians. They warned that continued settlement expansion risks fuelling violence and instability across the region.
Other measures announced by Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz include transferring building and licensing authority at sensitive religious sites in Hebron exclusively to Israeli bodies, as well as granting Israel oversight powers over environmental and archaeological issues in areas administered by the PA.
The West Bank remains divided into areas with varying degrees of Palestinian and Israeli control following the 1993 Oslo Accords. Today, Israel retains full administrative and security authority over around 60% of the territory, where most settlements are located.
More than 700,000 Israeli settlers currently live in the occupied West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem. The United Nations says settlement expansion reached a record pace last year, while more than 37,000 Palestinians were displaced in 2025 alone, amid rising settler violence.
Israel’s governing coalition includes strong pro-settlement factions that openly support annexation. Prime Minister Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, has repeatedly rejected the creation of a Palestinian state, arguing it would pose a security threat.
In 2024, the International Court of Justice issued a non-binding advisory opinion stating that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and should be brought to an end.
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