Palestinian vice president calls for global action after Israeli Cabinet decisions on West Bank

Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh said Israeli decisions targeting the occupied West Bank amount to a "nullification of all signed and binding agreements" and risk escalating tensions across the region.

"What is being circulated about impending Israeli decisions to deepen annexation and impose new realities in the West Bank, including in Area A, constitutes a nullification of all signed and binding agreements between the parties and represents a dangerous escalation and a blatant violation of international law," al-Sheikh said late Sunday on the US social media company X.

"These unilateral measures aim to undermine any political horizon, dismantle the two-state solution, and drag the region into further tension and instability," he added.

Al-Sheikh called on the US administration and the international community to intervene immediately to stop the "occupation-driven aggression."

Earlier on Sunday, Israel's Security Cabinet approved measures that change the legal and civil framework in the occupied West Bank to strengthen Israeli control.

Israel's public broadcaster KAN reported that the decisions include repealing a law barring the sale of Palestinian land to Jews in the West Bank, unsealing land ownership records, and transferring building permit authority in a Hebron settlement bloc from the Palestinian municipality to Israel's civil administration.

The measures also expand Israeli oversight and enforcement into areas classified as Area A and Area B, citing alleged violations related to unlicensed construction, water issues, and damage to archaeological and environmental sites. The expansion would allow demolitions and seizures of Palestinian property even in areas administered civilly and security-wise by the Palestinian Authority.

Under the 1995 Oslo II Accord, Area A is under full Palestinian civil and security control, Area B is under Palestinian civil control with Israeli security control, and Area C remains under full Israeli control, which accounts for about 60% of the West Bank.

Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported that the Cabinet's decisions included the transfer of planning and construction authority at the Ibrahimi Mosque and its surroundings, as well as other religious sites, from the Hebron municipality to Israel's civil administration, contrary to arrangements under the 1997 Hebron Protocol between Israel and the PLO.

Israeli authorities have continued to demolish Palestinian homes and structures across the West Bank on the grounds of lacking permits amid what Palestinians describe as restrictive policies that make it difficult to obtain building approvals.

According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, a Palestinian governmental agency, Israel carried out 538 demolitions in 2025, affecting about 1,400 homes and structures, an unprecedented increase compared with previous years.

The UN says Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory are illegal under international law and undermine the viability of a two-state solution and has for decades called for an end to settlement activity.