Israel expands control in West Bank and facilitates seizure of Palestinian land

(Patria) - The Israeli security cabinet on Sunday approved a series of steps that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land, while giving Israeli authorities greater powers to enforce laws against Palestinians, Israeli media reported, according to Reuters.

The West Bank is among the territories Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas managed by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz reported that the measures include the cancellation of decades-old regulations preventing Jewish private citizens from buying land in the West Bank.

It was also reported that they include allowing Israeli authorities to manage some religious sites, and expanding surveillance and law enforcement in areas under PA administration on issues of environmental hazards, water offenses, and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal, and tantamount to de facto annexation.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington.
In his statement, Abbas called on Trump and the United Nations Security Council to intervene.

Trump has ruled out the possibility of Israeli annexation of the West Bank, but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement construction, which Palestinians say deprives them of a potential state by destroying their territory.
Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, considers the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many settler-supporting members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 war, to which Israel claims biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' top court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there was illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this opinion.