In the context of a systematic policy aimed at consolidating control over Palestinian land and expanding settlement activity, the Israeli occupation government has approved a decision allowing the large-scale appropriation of Palestinian territories in the occupied West Bank by registering them as “state land”, a move described as unprecedented since 1967.
Under the decision, the Israeli Occupation “Land Registration Unit” will oversee the organisation and registration of land ownership in Area C, which constitutes approximately 61% of the West Bank and remains under full Israeli occupation’s control. This process includes issuing sale permits, collecting fees, and supervising registration procedures, while the Palestinian Authority is barred from exercising any authority in these areas.
The Israeli occupation authorities claim that the land registration initiative aims to “ensure legal control and develop infrastructure”. However, in practice, it represents a clear step towards entrenching settlement expansion and consolidating control over Palestinian land, posing a serious threat to Palestinians’ civil rights and further undermining the prospects of establishing a viable Palestinian state.
Under international law, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is recognised as occupied territory, and Israeli settlements therein are considered illegal. The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 prohibits the transfer of the occupying power’s civilian population into occupied territory and forbids the confiscation of property belonging to the protected population or its use for the benefit of the occupying power.
Accordingly, any move to register land in the name of the occupying power, facilitate its sale, and override previous legal protections afforded to Palestinians constitutes a direct violation of these international obligations and reinforces the prolonged occupation that has persisted for more than half a century.
The decision further indicates an expansion of Israeli occupation authority into Areas A and B, granting occupation authorities additional powers over planning, construction, and oversight. This enables demolitions and land confiscation even in areas nominally under partial Palestinian Authority control, thereby deepening restrictions on Palestinian civil rights and further eroding their effective sovereignty over their land.
Officials within the Israeli occupation government have stated that the objective is to “restore order and assert control over the land” and to “gradually settle 15% of Area C by 2030”, in what is internally referred to as part of a “settlement revolution”. This policy aims to solidify settler presence in strategic areas of the West Bank and create irreversible facts on the ground that hinder the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
This development comes amid a broader and ongoing campaign by the occupation authorities across the West Bank, including unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests, forced displacement of Palestinian people, and continued settlement expansion. Since 2023, these violations have intensified alongside the military offensive in Gaza, reflecting a wider strategy to consolidate control over Palestinian land and resources.
