Israel seizes land under Palestinian control to connect 2 illegal settlements in occupied West Bank

The Israeli army has seized land under Palestinian Authority control in the occupied West Bank to connect two new illegal settlements, the daily Haaretz reported on Wednesday.

Avi Blot, head of the Israeli army's Central Command, signed 15 land seizure orders in Area A to pave a road linking the illegal settlements of Noa and Emek Dotan, the newspaper said.

Noa and Emek Dotan are among new illegal settlements secretly approved by Israel's Security Cabinet in April 2026 as part of a package that included 34 settlements in the occupied West Bank, Haaretz said.

According to Israeli anti-settlement group Kerem Navot, this is the first time the Israeli army has used seizure orders in Area A to connect illegal settlements.

Under the Oslo Accords, Area A is under Palestinian security and administrative control. Israeli law bars Israeli occupiers from entering it, while the Palestinian Authority holds civil and security responsibility there.

Last month, Israeli rights groups warned that the location of the new settlements was designed to undermine the Oslo Accords.

"I have never seen anything like this before," Kerem Navot researcher Dror Etkes said.

"Seizure orders in Area A were previously used for military purposes, but now they serve a clear civilian and political goal: connecting settlements," he added.

"The seizure orders amount to a deliberate destruction of the Oslo Accords by the Israeli army, acting under political directives," Etkes said.

The land seizure came after Israel's Security Cabinet approved the establishment of 18 new illegal settlements in the northern West Bank, alongside dozens of settlements legalized by the current government, Haaretz said.

The first group of occupiers is expected to move into the two settlements next month, as infrastructure work is being accelerated to impose new facts on the ground ahead of Israel's general election in October, the paper said.

Earlier Wednesday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich hailed his government's settlement expansion decisions, calling them some of the promises that have been fulfilled.

"There is no dispute about one thing: Minister Bezalel Smotrich said and did. 104 new settlements are just part of the declarations that became reality," Smotrich said in a post on the US social media company X.

According to Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now, there are currently 141 illegal settlements and 360 outposts in the West Bank, in addition to 15 settlements in East Jerusalem.

UN Security Council Resolution 2334 of 2016 says Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, have no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation of international law.

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.

Palestinians warn that Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank, including home demolitions and illegal settlement expansion, are paving the way for formal annexation and undermining the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state under relevant UN resolutions.