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The European Commission called on the Israeli government to reverse its decision to begin land registration in the occupied West Bank's Area C, emphasizing that annexation is illegal under international law.
"Israel's decision to take new steps in Area C contradicts United Nations resolutions and the two-state solution," EU Commission Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Anouar el-Anouni told reporters at the daily press briefing.
Anouni reminded that the EU does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied territories.
"Annexation is contrary to international law, and we call on Israel to reverse its decision," the spokesperson said.
Israel is preparing to expand Jerusalem's boundaries into the occupied West Bank for the first time since the 1967 war, with the government signing an agreement to establish a new settlement that Palestinian officials and rights groups have condemned as "de facto annexation."
According to Israeli media, the Finance Ministry and Housing Ministry signed an agreement with the Binyamin Regional Council to build 2,780 housing units on 500 dunams of Palestinian land between the towns of Hizma and Er-Ram, southeast of Ramallah.
The settlement is planned as an expansion of the Geva Binyamin (Adam) settlement toward Jerusalem and will function as a neighborhood of the city, connected to the existing Neve Yaakov settlement in occupied East Jerusalem via the separation barrier and Highway 437.
Israeli civil society organization Peace Now sharply criticized the move, stating it marks the first expansion of Jerusalem into the West Bank since 1967.
"The Israeli government is carrying out a covert annexation under the pretext of a new settlement," Peace Now said in a statement.
"The new settlement will function in every respect as a neighborhood of Jerusalem, and planning it as a 'neighborhood' of the Adam settlement is merely a pretext and an attempt to hide this move," the statement noted.
The organization said the step means "the application of Israeli sovereignty over territories in the West Bank."
Israeli lawmaker Gilad Kariv of the Democrats party submitted an urgent query to Housing Minister Haim Katz, asking whether there is an intention to annex the planned area to Jerusalem and whether residents would receive services from Jerusalem's municipality.
"The planned step will intensify friction between Israelis and Palestinians, create unnecessary tension, and ultimately harm Jerusalem's status as Israel's capital," Kariv said.
"These plans are inconsistent with Israel's international commitments, including to U.S. President Trump," he added.
The settlement announcement follows the Israeli cabinet's Sunday, Feb. 15, approval of measures to begin land registration in the West Bank for the first time since 1967, a move Palestinians called "de facto annexation."
The registration process includes opening previously frozen land registration procedures, canceling a Jordanian-era law banning land sales, and disclosing land records that had remained confidential for decades.
"We are continuing the revolution of settlement and strengthening our hold across all parts of our land," Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said.
Defense Minister Israel Katz described land registration as a vital security measure, while the cabinet statement called it "an appropriate response to illegal land registration processes promoted by the Palestinian Authority."
Peace Now warned the measure could lead to the dispossession of Palestinians from up to half of the West Bank.
Palestinian Deputy Foreign Minister Omar Awadallah told state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday, Feb. 16, that the Palestinian leadership is considering "all options," including going to international courts, to prevent Israeli annexation.
"All options are open, including resorting to international courts, to protect Palestinian land from Israeli confiscation and annexation," Awadallah said.
"Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory. The only sovereignty belongs to the State of Palestine," he added.
The Palestinian presidency condemned the land registration step as "a de facto annexation of occupied Palestinian territory and a declaration of the commencement of annexation plans aimed at entrenching the occupation through illegal settlement activity."
The measures come despite a landmark advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice in July 2024 declaring Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories illegal and calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel disputes this view.
U.S. President Donald Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank, but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing an election later this year, has deemed the establishment of any Palestinian state a "security threat."
His ruling coalition includes many members who support annexing the West Bank, citing biblical and historical ties to the territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
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