This came in a statement issued by the Speaker of the Palestinian National Council, Rawhi Fattouh, after the Israeli Security Cabinet approved the resumption of land settlement in the occupied West Bank.
According to Channel 12, the cabinet approved the resumption of land registration on Sunday. According to this decision, the Land Registration Unit of the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) will be responsible for organizing and registering land ownership in Area C, which is occupied Palestinian territory, including issuing sales permits, collecting fees, and supervising registration procedures, while the Palestinian Authority is prevented from performing its duties in those areas.
Fattouh stressed that the decision is "a dangerous step aimed at entrenching illegal settlements and expanding Israeli control over Palestinian lands." He added that this step falls within the framework of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's plan to Judaize the land and expel Palestinians from their villages in favor of establishing pastoral settlements.
Fattouh considered the decision a "flagrant violation of international law and international legitimacy resolutions," stressing that it represents a challenge to the international will that rejects the legitimacy of settlements in the occupied territories.
On July 19, 2024, the International Court of Justice, during a public session in The Hague, affirmed that "the continued presence of the State of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories is illegal," affirmed the Palestinians' right to "self-determination," and demanded the evacuation of Israeli settlements from the occupied territories.
Fattouh called on the international community, including the United Nations and the European Union, to take immediate action to halt these aggressive policies and hold Israel accountable for its violations.
In this context, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz stated in a statement issued by his office that the decision "restores prestige to Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank)" and considered it a failure of the Palestinian Authority's attempts to control Area C. He also indicated that the settlement will be conducted under the supervision of the Ministry of Defense.
Land settlement in the West Bank was frozen by the Israeli authorities after the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, having begun during the Jordanian era. Under the Oslo Accords, land settlement for the Palestinian Authority was restricted to Areas A and B and prohibited in Area C.
The Oslo II Accords (1995) included dividing the West Bank into three areas: “A” under full Palestinian control, “B” under Israeli security control and Palestinian administrative control, and “C” under full Israeli control and constituting approximately 61% of the West Bank’s area.
As the Gaza Strip is witnessing a genocidal war waged by Israel, attacks by the occupation army and settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have escalated. These attacks have resulted in the deaths of more than 962 Palestinians, the injury of nearly 7,000 others, and the arrest of more than 17,000 Palestinians.
Israel continues its military campaign against the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths and injuries of more than 172,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women, as well as more than 11,000 missing.