Hebrew media outlets have revealed that Israeli occupation authorities have, in recent days, seized nearly 700 dunums of Palestinian land in the north-western occupied West Bank, in a move aimed at establishing a new settlement neighbourhood at a site classified as “strategic”. The step effectively fragments Palestinian territorial contiguity and undermines the prospects for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
According to information published in the Hebrew media, the seizure involved 695 dunums of land located near the Karnei Shomron settlement, in an area that geographically separates Salfit Governorate from the city of Qalqilya. This further deepens the isolation of Palestinian communities and transforms them into disconnected enclaves lacking natural urban and economic continuity.
The move falls within a long-standing policy aimed at asserting control over land of geographic significance, often by declaring it “state land” and subsequently allocating it to settlement projects. Such practices constitute a clear violation of international humanitarian law, which prohibits the occupying power from confiscating private property or making permanent changes in occupied territory unless justified by imperative military necessity.
Available information indicates that the planned settlement project is intended to link several settlements together, creating continuous settler territorial contiguity at the expense of Palestinian presence. This would impose new demographic and geographic realities that are difficult to reverse. The project is expected to include thousands of housing units, further entrenching the permanent civilian character of settlement activity, in direct contradiction to the temporary legal status of occupied territory.
This land seizure represents a serious breach of the principle prohibiting the acquisition of territory by force and undermines the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, a fundamental right guaranteed under international law. The transfer of the occupying power’s civilian population into occupied territory also constitutes a clear violation of the protections afforded to the civilian population under occupation.
The confiscation comes amid an ongoing escalation of de facto annexation policies in the West Bank, alongside the demolition of Palestinian homes, the expansion of settlements, and the retroactive legalisation of existing settlement outposts. Together, these measures contribute to the displacement of the indigenous population and the forced alteration of the area’s demographic composition.
These violations form part of a systematic pattern aimed at imposing a permanent reality by force, in disregard of the occupation’s legal obligations and amid continued impunity. The absence of effective mechanisms to halt these practices and safeguard Palestinian civilians’ rights allows such violations to persist unchecked.
