The Israeli Ministerial Committee for Political and Security Affairs (the Cabinet) approved a package of dramatic decisions aimed at entrenching Israeli sovereignty and deepening annexation operations in the occupied West Bank. These measures included the annulment of existing Jordanian laws that prevented the sale of land to Jews, a step described by settlement circles as the most significant in decades.
Informed sources reported that the decisions included declassifying land records and publishing them for public access, which facilitates acquisition and direct purchase operations by settlers and Jewish companies. The Cabinet also abolished the requirement for a transaction permit from the Civil Administration, allowing real estate transactions in the West Bank through mechanisms similar to those applied within the Green Line.
In a notable field step, the Israeli government decided to expand supervision and enforcement powers to include Areas (A) and (B), which are administratively and security-wise under the Palestinian Authority according to the Oslo Accords. These operations will focus on prosecuting what Israel describes as water violations, damage to archaeological sites, and environmental risks, thereby giving its agencies a new legal foothold in the heart of Palestinian communities.
The decisions also included transferring building permit powers in the settlement bloc in Hebron and the Ibrahimi Mosque from the Palestinian Hebron Municipality to the planning institutions of the Israeli Civil Administration. This measure aims to overcome legal obstacles previously posed by the municipality to settlement expansion and facilitate settlers' access to holy sites in the city.
Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced that this policy aims to ensure Israel's future in the region and strengthen settlement by removing all bureaucratic and legal obstacles. Katz affirmed the government's commitment to creating 'legal certainty' that enables settlers to live and build on an equal footing with the rest of the citizens of the Hebrew state.
For his part, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that the era of treating settlers as second-class citizens under Jordanian laws has completely ended. Smotrich added that the government is working to normalize life in the West Bank and fighting for the land to strengthen its grip on what he described as 'the Land of Israel'.
In a related context, it was decided to revive the 'Land Purchase Committee,' which had ceased operations about twenty years ago, to undertake state-initiated purchase operations to provide land reserves for settlement expansion. The Cabinet also approved the establishment of a dedicated municipal administration for the Rachel's Tomb complex in Bethlehem to assume maintenance and service responsibilities away from Palestinian local authorities.
The Palestinian Presidency condemned these decisions, describing them as a continuation of a comprehensive war and an unprecedented escalation targeting the historical Palestinian presence. The Presidency warned in an official statement that these steps represent a practical implementation of displacement plans and violate all signed agreements and international legitimacy resolutions.
The Palestinian Authority affirmed that any harm to the Ibrahimi Mosque and the transfer of powers within it is completely rejected and could lead to an explosion of the situation on the ground. It called on the international community and the US administration to intervene immediately to stop these measures that undermine the two-state solution and threaten the security and stability of the entire region.
In a special statement, Lieutenant General Jibril Rajoub, Secretary-General of the Fatah Central Committee, described Israel as a 'state of neo-Nazis' seeking to erase Palestine, land and people. Rajoub affirmed that the Palestinian people would confront these plans with steadfastness and resilience, emphasizing that the time has come to isolate this 'rogue' state internationally and regionally.
Rajoub stressed that all Palestinian political factions are united in confronting this official terrorism and will not surrender to attempts at uprooting. He clarified that these Israeli policies constitute a blatant provocation to international law and a challenge to all countries of the Middle East and the international community as a whole.
Hamas, for its part, considered the Cabinet's decisions aimed at swallowing the entire Palestinian land and posing a real existential threat to the Palestinian people. The movement called for building a unified national response program to confront the war of extermination and the liquidation of the Palestinian presence led by the far-right government.
On the internal Israeli front, MK Ayman Odeh believed that the government is racing against time to impose strategic realities on the ground before the upcoming parliamentary elections. Odeh indicated that the primary goal is to definitively rule out the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state and prevent it permanently through intensified settlement and silent displacement.
The Council of Settlements welcomed the decisions, considering them the most important since 1967 because they enshrine de facto Israeli sovereignty. The Council stated in its announcement that the government has practically declared that this land belongs to the Jewish people, ending decades of legal ambiguity in the region.
These decisions express a clear policy based on strengthening Israeli control in Judea and Samaria, promoting settlement, and ensuring Israel's future in this land for generations.
شارك برأيك
Israel approves measures to legitimize annexation of West Bank, Rajoub describes it as 'state of neo-Nazis'