What are Israel’s latest unlawful measures in occupied West Bank

Israel’s Security Cabinet on Sunday approved sweeping measures aimed at reshaping the legal and civil framework governing the occupied West Bank, designed to bolster Israeli occupation and accelerate illegal Israeli settlements across the territory.

Several countries, including Türkiye, have condemned Israel’s unlawful measures in the occupied West Bank

Here is what the new Israeli measures look like:

Opening sealed land ownership

Public broadcaster KAN reported that the decisions, advanced by Defence Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, include repealing a Jordanian-era law that barred the sale of Palestinian land to Jews in the occupied West Bank, opening sealed land ownership records and transferring authority over building permits in a settlement bloc in the city of Hebron from the Palestinian municipality to Israel’s Civil Administration.

The Israeli cabinet also scrapped the requirement for a special “transaction permit” to complete land purchases and reduced the Civil Administration’s professional oversight, limiting procedures largely to basic registration requirements.

Israeli media claimed the shift as a legal change that would be difficult to reverse.

The measures are expected to bring far-reaching changes to land registration and purchasing mechanisms in the occupied West Bank, Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported.

Opening land records would publicly disclose owners’ names and enable Israeli buyers to contact them directly, potentially easing land purchases and expanding settlements across the territory, the outlet added.

Hebron

Some of the decisions affect existing arrangements in Hebron, including transferring planning and construction authority at the Ibrahimi Mosque and surrounding areas, as well as other religious sites, from the Hebron municipality to planning bodies within Israel’s Civil Administration.

The move would run counter to arrangements established under the 1997 Hebron Protocol between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

KAN quoted Katz as saying the measures “reflect a clear policy to strengthen the Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria,” using the Hebrew term commonly employed by Israeli officials to refer to the occupied West Bank.

Smotrich said the steps would “end discrimination against settlers”, according to the broadcaster.

Reversing Oslo

The current administrative structure of the occupied West Bank largely stems from the 1993 Oslo Accords, which divided the territory into Areas A, B and C.

Area A, comprising about 18 percent of the occupied West Bank, includes major Palestinian cities and is under Palestinian civil and security control.

Area B, accounting for roughly 22–23 percent of the territory, falls under Palestinian civil administration with Israeli security control.

Area C, which covers around 60 percent of the occupied West Bank, remains under full Israeli occupation and contains most of the land reserves for future Palestinian urban growth, agriculture and grazing, according to the United Nations.

Roughly 150,000 Palestinians live in Area C.

Israeli authorities will also extend oversight and enforcement powers into areas classified as Area A and Area B.

This could allow demolitions and seizures of Palestinian property even in areas administered by the Palestinian Authority.

The latest measures come as Israel continues demolitions of Palestinian homes and structures across the occupied West Bank because they lack building permits, which Palestinians and rights groups say are extremely difficult to obtain.

According to the Palestinian government’s Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, Israel carried out 538 demolitions in 2025, affecting around 1,400 homes and structures, marking a sharp rise compared with previous years.