What ‘state property’ means in Israel’s expansion of West Bank control

An Israeli government decision to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as "state property" targets any land in Area C that Palestinians cannot prove ownership, a Palestinian legal expert said Monday.

Hasan Breijieh, coordinator of a local committee opposed to construction of Israeli settlements on confiscated Palestinian land, said the Israeli move effectively transfers ownership from Palestinians to the Israeli authorities and later to illegal settlers.

"What is happening is the stripping of land ownership from Palestinians and registering it in the name of the state (Israel), and then transferring it to Israeli settlers, which poses a danger to most West Bank lands that have never been registered," Breijieh told Anadolu.

On Sunday, the Israeli government approved a proposal to resume land registration procedures in the West Bank for the first time since Tel Aviv occupied the territory in 1967.

A unit under Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories will oversee the process in Area C, issuing sale permits, collecting fees and supervising registration, while preventing the Palestinian Authority from performing such duties there.

Breijieh said the Israeli declaration "is old and has been renewed and reaffirmed," tracing the issue to May 2025, when the Israeli government approved the resumption of land registration procedures that had been suspended since Israel occupied the territory in 1967.

Under the 1995 Oslo II Accord, the West Bank was divided into Areas A, B and C. Area A falls under full Palestinian control, Area B under Palestinian civil control and Israeli security control, and Area C, about 61% of the West Bank, remains under Israeli control pending a final-status agreement that was originally slated for May 1999.

The agreement restricts Palestinian land registration to Areas A and B and bars it in Area C.

TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP

Breijieh said a "settlement" means "registering lands in the names of their owners with official documents proving ownership, while registering lands for which no one comes forward in the name of the state (Israel)."

Many Palestinians inherit land across generations without formal title deeds, particularly because Israel froze land settlement procedures after 1967. Palestinians often rely on customary sale contracts or tax payment receipts to demonstrate possession, but those documents do not constitute final title deeds.

He said registration under occupation requires complex proof from previous administrations, inheritance records and costly survey maps that are difficult to obtain, putting large portions of West Bank land at risk.

About 770,000 illegal Israeli settlers live in settlements and outposts across the occupied West Bank, including about 250,000 in East Jerusalem.

Palestinians and rights groups accuse illegal settlers of carrying out daily attacks aimed at forcibly displacing Palestinian residents.

Breijieh linked Sunday's decision to other recent Israeli measures aimed at tightening control over the West Bank, including areas under Palestinian Authority administration.

"All decisions related to the West Bank, including attempts at annexation and the imposition of policies, are supported by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who seeks to win over settlers and secure their votes" ahead of Knesset elections scheduled for October, he said.

On Feb. 8, the Israeli government approved measures to change the legal and civil reality in the West Bank, including canceling a Jordanian law prohibiting the sale of Palestinian land to Jews, lifting confidentiality from land records and expanding Israeli oversight powers to include Areas A and B.

The United Nations and the international community consider the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, occupied territory and view Israeli settlement building there as illegal under international law.

VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

Breijieh said the Israeli decision to start land registration is a preparation for taking over the occupied West Bank.

"Israel has explicitly declared its intention to confront attempts by the Palestinian Authority to register land in several governorates, and from here it has set a plan to begin land registration in preparation for taking control of it," he said.

"International law treats the West Bank as occupied territory," he said, adding that Israel's decision violates international humanitarian law, including the 1907 Hague Regulations, which require an occupying power to respect existing laws in the occupied territory, in this case, Jordanian law.

"Israel is implementing a gradual annexation of the West Bank and strengthening settlements in occupied land, thereby violating several UN resolutions, including Security Council Resolution 2334 of 2016, which affirms the illegality of settlements."

Breijieh also cited an advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice on July 19, 2024, which said "Israel's continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful," affirmed Palestinians' "right to self-determination," and stated that "Israeli settlements in the occupied territories must be evacuated."

On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz described the resumption of land regulation as "a necessary security and administrative step to ensure Israel's control in the area."

Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, Israel has intensified military operations and settlement activity in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, with Palestinians reporting killings, arrests, home demolitions, displacement and settlement expansion.

Israel was established in 1948. It occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 1967 and has since rejected calls to withdraw fully and allow the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

GRADUAL ANNEXATION

Breijieh said the political dimension of the Israeli decision outweighs the technical aspects of registration.

"The goal is to seize the largest possible area of the West Bank land, including land inherited across generations that circumstances did not allow to be formally documented in the owners' names," he said.

He described the Israeli measures as part of "the gradual annexation and the continuous assault on land."

"Persisting in issuing decisions and attempting to legalize or give a legal character to land plunder will not grant it legitimacy. It will remain occupied land that must be withdrawn from," he said.

Since the Gaza war began through the end of 2025, Israel has taken control of about 58,000 dunams (14,332 acres) of West Bank land, either by declaring it state land or allocating it for settlement and military purposes, according to data from the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission.

Commission head Moayad Shaaban told Anadolu on Sunday that Israel "is violating international law" by approving "a decision allowing it to begin seizing Palestinian land in the West Bank."

He accused Israel of accelerating measures to impose new facts on the ground to prevent Palestinians from registering their land and to cancel registrations completed by the Palestinian government in recent years.

In its statement Sunday, the Israeli government said the decision "constitutes a response to land settlement procedures promoted by the Palestinian Authority in Area C."

It also claimed that land registration "will put an end to legal disputes and enable infrastructure development and orderly land marketing."

According to the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, the goal of the move is the "gradual settlement of 15% of Area C by 2030."

The new step comes amid what Palestinians describe as intensified measures that pave the way for Israel to formally annex the West Bank, a move that would effectively end the possibility of a Palestinian state under the two-state framework endorsed in UN resolutions.