In a landmark and highly controversial decision, Israel’s cabinet voted on 13 May to take full responsibility for land registration in Area C of the occupied West Bank – an area comprising around 60 percent of the territory and home to the vast majority of Israeli settlements. The move, pushed by far-right Ministers Israel Katz and Bezalel Smotrich, is widely being described by critics as a de facto annexation of Palestinian land.
Under the 1995 Oslo Accords, Area C was placed under temporary Israeli control, with an eventual transition to Palestinian Authority (PA) administration expected. That transition never materialized. Now, with the new cabinet resolution, any land registration efforts by Palestinians in Area C will be declared legally void by Israel. Israeli authorities plan to initiate formal land registration processes, conduct widespread land surveys, and potentially reclassify vast tracts as “state land,” opening them for settlement expansion.
Under international law, all Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank is illegal.
“This is a dangerous step toward realizing the messianic vision of the annexationist government,” said Israeli rights group Yesh Din, warning that the move violates international law and threatens the rights of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Palestinian activists, such as Ayed Jafry from the village of Sinjil, say the policy will further entrench dispossession. “We’re now dealing directly with the occupation again,” he told Middle East Eye (MEE). “This opens the door for settlers to seize land without oversight.”
According to Israeli media, the government is changing its policy from restricting land use unless permitted to broadly permitting land claims unless explicitly prohibited. Finance Minister Smotrich declared the move part of a broader campaign of “normalization and de facto sovereignty,” aiming to eliminate any prospects for a future Palestinian state.
Hellbound and Down 