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The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Sunday said the Israeli government’s approval of a proposal to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property” is legally null and void, warning that the move is aimed at advancing annexation and expanding illegal settlements.
In a statement posted on the social media platform X, the ministry condemned the decision “in the strongest terms.”
It rejected any attempt to transform land in the occupied West Bank into state property under what it described as the authority of the occupation, saying such measures seek to “legitimize the crime of settlement and annexation, and to create pathways that facilitate the seizure, occupation and theft of Palestinian lands and the expansion of illegal settlements.”
The ministry said the move constitutes a practical beginning of an annexation process and undermines the foundations of a future Palestinian state.
The decision represents a direct challenge to the international legal order and the will of the international community, amounting to a flagrant violation of international peace and security principles, the statement said.
The ministry said the measure is in “clear contradiction with United Nations resolutions, foremost among them U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334, which affirmed the illegality of settlements in all of the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.”
It also cited an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice finding Israel’s occupation unlawful.
“The ministry calls on the international community, the Security Council, and all legal and international bodies to stand firmly against these accelerating unilateral illegal measures,” the statement said.
It urged urgent action to deter what it described as occupation policies and to halt annexation and settlement expansion that “threaten the two-state solution, the international consensus, and undermine security and stability in the region.”
Earlier Sunday, the Israeli government approved a proposal to register large swathes of the occupied West Bank as “state property,” marking the first such measure since Israel occupied the territory in 1967.
Under the Oslo II Accord signed in 1995, Area A of the West Bank is under full Palestinian control, while Area B is under Palestinian civil control and Israeli security control. Area C, which accounts 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 and prohibits it in Area C.
The decision is part of a series of measures approved by Israel’s Security Cabinet last week aimed at expanding illegal settlement construction and increasing Israeli control over 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 transferring 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. Palestinians view the escalation, including killings, arrests, displacement and settlement expansion, as a step toward the formal annexation of the territory.
In a landmark advisory 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.
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