Overview
- On 8 February, Israel’s security cabinet approved measures easing settlers’ ability to acquire land, lifting confidentiality on West Bank land registries, and expanding Israeli civilian enforcement in Areas A and B.
- UN Secretary-General António Guterres and human rights chief Volker Türk condemned the steps as unlawful de facto annexation that erodes prospects for a Palestinian state and urged Israel to reverse them.
- The decisions strip the Palestinian Authority of planning powers in parts of Hebron, including at the Ibrahimi Mosque/Cave of the Patriarchs, and place Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem under Israeli administrative control.
- Senior Israeli officials framed the move as entrenching sovereignty, with Energy Minister Eli Cohen saying it ensures there will not be a Palestinian state and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich vowing to “bury” that prospect.
- Days later, rights groups and media reported a surge in settler attacks that wounded at least 54 Palestinians near Nablus, as a bloc of Arab and Muslim-majority states issued a joint denunciation of the Israeli measures.