Israel

Jerusalem- The government of Israel has approved a process to register land in the Occupied West Bank as “state property”, prompting condemnation from Arab nations and critics who said it would accelerate the annexation of Palestinian territory.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the measure, approved on Sunday night, would allow for “a transparent and comprehensive clarification of rights to resolve legal disputes” and was necessary after the illegal registration of land in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

But Egypt, Qatar and Jordan criticized the move as illegal under international law.

Arab nations and Palestinians call move a “de facto beginning” of annexation

In a statement, the Egyptian government called it a “dangerous escalation aimed at consolidating Israeli control over the occupied Palestinian territories.”

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry condemned the “decision to convert West Bank land into so-called ‘state property’,” saying it would “deprive the Palestinian people of their rights.”

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the country “strongly condemns the actions of the Israeli government aimed at the annexation of occupied Palestinian lands, most recently the illegitimate decision of the Israeli government to convert lands in the West Bank into so-called ‘state properties.’ independent”.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority called for international intervention to prevent the “de facto beginning of the annexation process and the undermining of the foundations of the Palestinian state.”

Israel’s anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now called the move a “mega land grab.”

The process will take place only in Area C, which constitutes around 60% of the West Bank territory and is under Israeli administrative and security control.

“There was a lot of ambiguity regarding the land, and Israel has now decided to deal with it,” Peace Now co-director Jonathan Mizrachi told News on Monday, adding that existing ambiguity over land ownership in Area C is likely to be used against the Palestinians.

“Many lands that Palestinians consider theirs will discover that they are not theirs under this new registration process,” he said, adding that the move will further the annexation agenda of the Israeli right.

The European Union also issued a statement condemning the move on Monday as a “new escalation after recent measures that already aimed to extend Israeli control” of the Palestinian territory.

“We reiterate that the annexation is illegal under international law,” EU foreign affairs spokesman Anouar El Anouni said in a statement. “We call on Israel to reverse this decision.”

There was no immediate reaction from Israeli officials to the condemnation from the country’s neighbors and the EU.

“Quick steps to permanently change the demographics” of the West Bank

Last week, Israel’s security cabinet approved a series of measures backed by far-right ministers to tighten control over areas of the West Bank administered by the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo accords, in place since the 1990s.

Those measures, which also sparked an international reaction, include allowing Israeli Jews to buy land in the West Bank directly and allowing Israeli authorities to administer certain religious sites in areas under Palestinian Authority control.

The measures prompted a joint statement from eight Muslim-majority nations, including close US allies Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, condemning “in the strongest terms illegal Israeli decisions and measures aimed at imposing illegal Israeli sovereignty, entrenching settlement activity and enforcing a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank, thereby accelerating attempts at its illegal annexation and the displacement of the Palestinian people.”

Palestinians consider the West Bank critical to any future Palestinian state, but many members of Israel’s religious right want to seize the land.

Around three million Palestinians live in the territory that Israel has occupied since 1967.

The latest Israeli initiatives come against a broader backdrop of growing Attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians. in the territory, according to human rights groups.

“We are witnessing rapid steps to permanently change the demographics of the occupied Palestinian territory, dispossessing its people of their land and forcing them to leave,” United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said in a recent statement.

Excluding Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law. Israel has carried out numerous military and police operations in the West Bank in recent years, accusing Hamas and other terrorist groups of operating in the territory and using it as a platform from where to launch attacks about Israel.

Trump administration calmer after repeatedly rejecting annexation

President Trump has opposed Israel’s annexation of the West Bank, saying stability in the territory helps keep Israel safe, but has not directly criticized the latest Israeli measures, despite international outrage.

“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,” said Mr. Trump told reporters bluntly in September 2025. “There has been enough [Israeli settlement expansion]. It’s time to stop now.”

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday criticized a israeli parliament vote to promote a bill on the proposed annexation of the occupied West Bank, calling it “a very stupid political trick.”

“Personally, I feel it as an insult,” Vance said at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport as he left the country after his visit. “Israel is not going to annex the West Bank. The policy of the Trump administration is that Israel will not annex the West Bank. That will continue to be our policy. And if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that, but we certainly weren’t happy with that.”

Many far-right nationalist members of the Israeli government have expressed hope since Trump won his second term, however, that his pro-Israel stance could make annexation a reality.

Netanyahu’s Likud party is part of a coalition government. formed to keep him in power —
with radical right-wing nationalist parties, including the Religious Zionist Party. Netanyahu pledged to seek annexation of the West Bank in Likud’s coalition deal with the Religious Zionist Party.

“The people of Israel have a natural right to the Land of Israel,” the agreement says. “In light of the belief in the aforementioned right, the Prime Minister will lead the formulation and promotion of a policy within the framework of which sovereignty in the West Bank will be applied, choosing the moment and considering all the national and international interests of the State of Israel.”

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister and member of the Religious Zionist Party, said in 2024 that he believed Israel could work with the then-incoming Trump administration to promote annexation of the West Bank.