Israeli approval of West Bank land registration draws outrage

Israel’s government has approved a process to register land in the West Bank as “state property”, drawing condemnation from Arab nations and critics who said it would accelerate annexation of the Palestinian territory.

Egypt, Qatar and Jordan criticised the move as illegal under the international law.

In a statement, Egyptian government called it a “dangerous escalation aimed at consolidating Israeli control over the occupied Palestinian territories”.

Qatar’s foreign ministry condemned the “decision to convert West Bank lands into so-called ‘state property’,” saying it would “deprive the Palestinian people of their rights”.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority called for international intervention to prevent the “de facto beginning of the annexation process and the undermining of the foundations of the Palestinian state”.

Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now called the measure a “mega land grab”.

Jonathan Mizrachi, the NGO’s co-director, told AFP on Monday that the measure would attribute new resources for land registration in the occupied West Bank.

The process will take place in Area C, which constitutes some 60 percent of West Bank territory and is under Israeli security and administrative control.

“There was a lot of ambiguity regarding the land,” he said, adding that the existing ambiguity over Area C land ownership is likely to be used against Palestinians.

“A lot of land that Palestinians consider theirs, they will find out it’s not theirs under this new registration process,” he said, adding the move will further the Israeli right’s annexation agenda.

Changing demography

Palestinians see the West Bank as foundational to any future Palestinian state, but many on Israel’s religious right want to take over the land.

Last week, Israel’s security cabinet approved a series of measures backed by far-right ministers to tighten control over areas of the West Bank administered by the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo accords, in place since the 1990s.

Those measures, which also sparked international backlash, include allowing Jewish Israelis to buy West Bank land directly and allowing Israeli authorities to administer certain religious sites in areas under the Palestinian Authority’s control.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

The latest Israeli initiatives come amid a wider context of increasing attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the territory, according to rights groups.

“We are witnessing rapid steps to change permanently the demography of the occupied Palestinian territory, stripping its people of their lands and forcing them to leave,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a recent statement.

US President Donald Trump has opposed Israel’s annexation of the West Bank, saying stability in the territory helps keep Israel secure.

However, Trump has held off from directly criticising the latest Israeli measures, despite the international outrage.

Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law.

Around three million Palestinians live in the territory, which Israeli has occupied since 1967.