Overview
- The cabinet authorized restarting formal land-title registration in Area C, the roughly 60% of the West Bank under Israeli control, with funding to implement the program reported at 244.1 million shekels.
- Under the procedure, authorities will designate zones for registration and anyone claiming rights must prove ownership with documents, a bar critics say many Palestinians cannot meet, triggering automatic state registration.
- Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich framed the move as strengthening control, security and governance, while Israel’s Foreign Ministry cast it as an administrative step responding to alleged PA land actions.
- The Palestinian Authority and Hamas called the decision a de facto annexation in breach of international law, and Jordan, Qatar, Turkey, the EU and UN officials urged Israel to reverse it, citing UN Security Council Resolution 2334 and ICJ findings.
- Israeli NGOs Peace Now and Yesh Din warn of large-scale dispossession—potentially up to 83% of Area C—and note implementation could begin this year, with Peace Now also reporting a separate plan to expand Jerusalem via a new neighborhood linked to the Adam settlement.