UPDATE - Palestine warns Israeli plan to register West Bank land as ‘state property’ amounts to ‘de facto annexation’

UPDATES WITH HAMAS REACTION

By Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Palestinian Authority on Sunday warned that an Israeli government decision to register large areas of the West Bank as “state property” amounts to a “de facto annexation” of the occupied territory and a violation of international law.

In a statement carried by the official news agency Wafa, the Authority said the Israeli move constitutes “a blatant violation of international law and international legitimacy resolutions” and poses a threat to security and stability.

It described the measure as a “de facto annexation of occupied Palestinian land” and an official launch of annexation plans aimed at consolidating the occupation through illegal settlement expansion.

It also constitutes “a termination of the signed agreements and clearly contradicts the resolutions of the UN Security Council, especially Resolution 2334, which considers all settlement activity in the entire occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, to be illegal.”

The Authority stressed that unilateral Israeli actions “would not confer legitimacy over Palestinian land and would not change the legal and historical status of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip as occupied territory under international law.”

It called on the international community, particularly the UN Security Council and the US administration, to intervene immediately to halt the Israeli measures and compel Tel Aviv to comply with international law to prevent further escalation.

The Palestinian group Hamas decried the Israeli decision as “void” and issued by “an illegitimate occupation authority.”

This decision “is an attempt to impose Judaizing settlement facts by force, in a flagrant violation of international law and relevant UN resolutions,” it said in a statement.

The group vowed “to continue to confront all attempts by the occupation to impose annexation, Judaization and displacement plans.”

The Palestinian people “will not allow these colonial projects to pass, and the will of our people and their adherence to their land and their established national rights will remain the impenetrable barrier in the face of the occupation’s policies and expansionist plans.”

It called on the UN and international parties to take urgent action “to stop the occupation’s aggression and its ongoing violations against our Palestinian people, foremost among which is their right to their land, to self-determination, and to establish their independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

Earlier Sunday, the Israeli government approved a proposal to register vast areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property,” the first such measure since Israel occupied the territory in 1967.

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported that the proposal was submitted by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, and Defense Minister Israel Katz.

“The initial goal is the gradual settlement of 15% of Area C by 2030,” the Israel Hayom newspaper commented ahead of the government decision.

Under the Oslo II Accord signed in 1995, Area A is under full Palestinian control, Area B is under Palestinian civil control and Israeli security control, while Area C, accounting for about 61% of the West Bank, remains under full Israeli control.

The Accord limits land registration by the Palestinian Authority to Areas A and B, while prohibiting it in Area C.

The move was part of a series of measures approved by Israel’s Security Cabinet last week aimed at expanding illegal settlement building and increasing Tel Aviv’s control of the occupied West Bank.

According to Israeli media, the measures include repealing a law that barred the sale of land in the West Bank to illegal Israeli settlers, unsealing land ownership records, and shifting authority for building permits in a settlement bloc near Hebron from a Palestinian municipality to Israel’s civil administration.

Israel has intensified operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since launching its military campaign in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023. Palestinians view the escalation -- including killings, arrests, displacement and settlement expansion -- as a step toward formal annexation of the territory.

In a landmark opinion in July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.