Overview
- Israel’s security cabinet approved measures lifting long-standing curbs on land sales to Israeli Jews, unsealing land registries, reviving a state land‑purchase committee, and shifting planning powers at sites in Hebron and Bethlehem while expanding enforcement into Areas A and B.
- Energy Minister Eli Cohen said the steps ensure there will not be a Palestinian state, echoing similar statements from Bezalel Smotrich and Israel Katz that frame the moves as establishing de facto sovereignty.
- UN leaders condemned the decision as unlawful and warned it would accelerate dispossession and settlement growth, with the rights chief citing a trajectory that could render a viable Palestinian state impossible and UN data noting nearly 700 Palestinians displaced in January.
- The Palestinian Authority and a bloc of eight Muslim‑majority states denounced the measures as illegal and vowed diplomatic action, as the UN Arab Group sought Security Council engagement to press for reversal.
- The White House reiterated President Trump’s opposition to annexation ahead of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Washington visit, while the EU and UK urged Israel to backtrack and Israeli watchdogs flagged likely court challenges.