<\/p>\n
New Israeli measures for the occupied West Bank, announced over the weekend, are expected to accelerate the territory\u2019s annexation, ease land purchases by settlers and push Palestinians into increasingly isolated enclaves.<\/p>\n
The full text of the latest decisions remains classified, but some details were disclosed in a statement. While it was unclear when the new rules would take effect, they do not require further approval.<\/p>\n
Below are key changes that are expected to reshape the West Bank.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a member of the security cabinet who himself lives in a settlement, said the moves would make it easy for settlers to purchase land in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967.<\/p>\n
Until now, land acquisitions for settlers were typically carried out through intermediary companies.<\/p>\n
The new measures repeal a decades-old law that barred Jews from directly purchasing land \u00a0in the West Bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will allow Jews to purchase land in Judea and Samaria exactly as they do in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem,\u201d Smotrich said.<\/p>\n
Under the new rules, Israelis or companies registered in their name will no longer require a special permit from the state to complete land transactions.<\/p>\n
Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement watchdog, said the permit system had been intended \u201cto prevent forgeries and to curb settlers\u2019 real-estate initiatives that contradict government policy\u201d.<\/p>\n
More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live among three million Palestinians in the West Bank.<\/p>\n
Members of Netanyahu\u2019s coalition like Smotrich or fellow far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir are ardent supporters of the settlement movement, and have long advocated annexing the West Bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cSmotrich, Ben Gvir and the rest of them have been telling us that this is their policy,\u201d Palestinian political scientist Ali Jarbawi told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it has come to fruition\u201d.<\/p>\n
The current Israeli government has fast-tracked settlement expansion, approving a record 52 settlements in 2025.<\/p>\n
The measures will also increase Israel\u2019s control in parts of the West Bank where the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority exercises power.<\/p>\n
Under the Oslo Accords of the 1990s, the West Bank was divided into areas A, B, and C \u2014 under Palestinian, mixed and Israeli governance respectively.<\/p>\n
According to Smotrich, the new measures will extend greater Israeli authority into A and B \u201cwith regard to water offences, damage to archaeological sites, and environmental hazards that pollute the entire region\u201d.<\/p>\n
Palestinian experts warn the initiatives would displace Palestinians living near archeological sites, landfills or springs, with Jarbawi saying Israel wants \u201cto drive Palestinians into small pieces of land, basically, their major cities, enclaves\u201d.<\/p>\n
Yonatan Mizrachi of Peace Now said the steps would further weaken the Palestinian Authority \u2014 established under the Oslo Accords as an interim governing body pending the creation of a Palestinian state \u2014 accusing Israel of \u201cadvancing annexation\u201d.<\/p>\n
The measures expand Israeli control over two major religious sites in the southern West Bank: Rachel\u2019s Tomb near Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, both holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims.<\/p>\n
In Hebron, the West Bank\u2019s largest Palestinian city, municipal bylaws will be amended to transfer building-permit authority in areas around the Cave of the Patriarchs, known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque, to COGAT, Israel\u2019s military body overseeing civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories.<\/p>\n
Asma al-Sharbati, Hebron\u2019s deputy mayor, called the move \u201cthe most dangerous ongoing Israeli trend\u201d, adding settlement expansion was happening at a \u201crapid pace\u201d.<\/p>\n
Rachel\u2019s Tomb, currently administered by the Bethlehem municipality, will similarly be placed under a newly created Israeli authority.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Rephrase in a different way as if you were a native American speaker as a content creation expert and do not talk about yourself or your experience in the text and do not show yourself as an artificial intelligence who wrote and fill the bullet point in the topic and speak the heart of the topic itself and dont take date of blog in ther first and dont take text like box of newsliter subscribe on post from content and romove all linke insert in content and and remove all affiliate disclosure phrases on content like this “This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links that allow us to earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please see our Disclosure Policy for more info” and “#” put in its place bullet point, and romove name of the web site or his links we are take a content from our new creation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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