Amir Daoud, the documentation officer at the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, told Anadolu that the cabinet decisions "give Israeli measures in the West Bank a legal character that changes the essential nature of the Palestinian land," considering them to represent a systematic shift in dealing with the occupied territories.
Daoud explained that these decisions pertain to enabling Israeli settlers to purchase properties in the West Bank, in violation of international law and the laws that were in effect before the occupation, and constitute “an Israeli declaration of disavowal of the Hebron Agreement signed in 1997.”
On Sunday, the Israeli cabinet approved a new package of decisions aimed at bringing about a radical change in the legal and civil reality in the occupied West Bank, with the goal of strengthening Israeli control over it.
The Hebrew Broadcasting Authority said the decisions, pushed by Defense Minister Yisrael Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, included canceling the Jordanian law that prohibits the sale of Palestinian land to Jews in the West Bank.
It also included lifting the secrecy on land records and transferring building permit powers in the settlement bloc in Hebron from the Palestinian municipality to what is known as the Israeli "Civil Administration".
According to the Yediot Aharonot website, these decisions will bring about broad changes in the mechanisms for registering and purchasing land, allowing for the public disclosure of the names of its owners and enabling Israeli buyers to communicate directly with them, which will facilitate the expansion of settlements in various areas of the West Bank.
Daoud pointed out that Israel has been working for years to withdraw the Palestinian Authority’s powers in several locations in the West Bank, including archaeological sites in Bethlehem and Hebron, describing this as “a blatant attack on Palestinian sovereignty.”
He explained that the Hebron Agreement signed in 1997 between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel stipulated the division of the city of Hebron into two areas, H1 and H2, with the first, which constitutes the majority of the city’s area, being under the administration of the Palestinian Authority, while the second, which includes the Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque, remains under Israeli control.
In this context, Daoud said that the pace of attacks and settlement activity has escalated unprecedentedly since the start of the war on Gaza on October 8, 2023, noting that more than 10,000 attacks carried out by settlers have been recorded, resulting in the martyrdom of 36 Palestinians.
He added that Israel established more than 150 new settlement outposts during this period, and that the Israeli government studied about 50,000 settlement plans during the past three years, in addition to confiscating about 60,000 dunams of Palestinian land during the war.
Daoud stressed the importance of Palestinians remaining steadfast on their land and confronting Israeli plans by all possible means, reiterating his call for the international community to take action to stop Israel's "crimes" and limit its actions on the ground.
According to Yediot Aharonot, the decisions also included expanding the powers of Israeli control and enforcement to include areas classified as “A” and “B”, under the pretext of violations related to construction, water, archaeological and environmental sites, which allows for the implementation of demolition and confiscation operations of Palestinian properties even in areas under the administrative and security control of the Palestinian Authority.
Under the Oslo Accords signed in 1993, Area A is under full Palestinian control, Area B is under Palestinian civil control and Israeli security control, while Area C is under full Israeli control.
