Overview
- The cabinet approved resuming formal land registration in Area C—about 60% of the West Bank—allowing parcels to be designated as state property for the first time since 1967.
- Media reports say the decision also enables private Israeli land purchases and shifts parts of West Bank administration to Israeli civilian authorities.
- UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the measure, warned it could dispossess Palestinians, and called for its immediate reversal.
- The EU, Germany, and a coalition of Arab and Muslim-majority states criticized the step, and 85 countries at the UN denounced actions expanding Israel’s presence in the occupied territory.
- Israeli NGOs including Peace Now call it a “mega” land grab as right‑wing ministers praise a settlement “revolution,” with separate reports detailing a plan for more than 2,700 housing units that would extend Jerusalem’s footprint into the West Bank.