A political sign with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich promising to advance settlement formalization, in April.Credit: Moti Milrod

Israel’s security cabinet on Sunday approved a decision aimed at implementing land registration in the West Bank for the first time since its occupation in 1967.

The decision entails the final registration of property rights in the West Bank’s “Area C” – the area placed under exclusive Israeli control according to the Oslo Accords. This contradicts international occupation law and is expected to deepen discrimination against Palestinians, who are likely to face significant challenges in proving their land rights.

Palestinian residents evacuate their homes in the West Bank urban refugee camp of Nur al-Shams as the Israeli security forces prepare to carry out home demolitions in the area, on Wednesday.Credit: Majdi Mohammed/AP

Additionally, the security cabinet instructed the defense establishment to halt “by any means at its disposal” a parallel land registration process initiated by the Palestinian Authority. Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the decision would strengthen Israeli settlements in the region.

The term “land registration” refers to the official recording of property rights following a process of mapping and verification of ownership claims. Once finalized, the registration, known in Hebrew as Tabu, is very difficult to contest. As part of the process, any land without documented ownership claims is transferred to the state.

Settlers at a protest in Homesh in the West Bank, in 2022.Credit: Amir Levy

Land registration efforts in the West Bank began during the British Mandate of Palestine and continued under Jordanian rule, but Israel froze the process after occupying the territory.

Attorney Michael Sfard, a specialist in international human rights law and the laws of war, told Haaretz that the decision violates the fundamental principle that bars occupying powers from making long-term changes in occupied territory.

Palestinians prepare to evacuate before Israeli demolitions in Nur al-Shams camp, in the West Bank, on Wednesday.Credit: Raneen Sawafta/Reuters

“There’s no chance that any Palestinian will have their rights recognized,” he said, adding that the decision will lead to “a massive land grab by Israel of all lands in Area C.”

“It is no coincidence that occupiers are prohibited from conducting land registration,” he added. “The ban stems from the fact that under occupation, it is impossible to carry out such a process freely.”

“Palestinians don’t have access to the information and documents needed to prove their rights,” the attorney said. Sfard also notes that so-called absentees, meaning Palestinians who don’t live in Israel or the West Bank, cannot participate in the process, even if they’re landowners. “The occupying power, and not a neutral party, adjudicates the claims. This fuels a complete mistrust and a fear, pushing many Palestinians to avoid taking part in the process.”

Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian youth, reportedly killed by Israeli troops in the town of Salim near Nablus, on April 25.Credit: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP

The draft resolution formulated by Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says that the security cabinet will instruct the IDF’s Central Command chief to resume land registration in Area C.

Under the plan, the Justice Ministry’s Land Registry and Settlement of Rights Department, the Defense Ministry’s legal adviser and the Defense Ministry’s Settlement Administration are to finalize a policy framework within 60 days to implement the process.

In recent years, the PA launched its own land registration process, which Israel does not recognize. Sunday’s decision stipulates that the results of this process will not be granted any legal validity and instructs the defense establishment to prevent its completion.

Israeli flags decorate the Ibrahimi Mosque, known to Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs, in Hebron in the West Bank on April 29.Credit: Hazem Bader/AFP

The decision outlines measures like blocking Palestinian officials and surveyors from entering areas where the registration process is underway, preventing the transfer of foreign financial aid intended to support it and demanding that senior PA officials halt the process.

An additional clause instructs the IDF chief of staff, the head of the Shin Bet security agency and the Mossad chief to provide the Finance Ministry with information on funds the PA invested in the registration process, including money raised from foreign countries. This information would then be used to deduct the amounts from taxes Israel collects from Palestinians and transfers to the PA.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, left, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, top right and Defense Minister Israel Katz, bottom right, at the Knesset in March.Credit: Olivier Fitoussi

Katz called the decision “revolutionary,” adding that it “does justice for Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria and will lead to its strengthening and expansion.”

Smotrich said that “the land registration process joins other efforts to regulate new settlements, planning, construction and the development of roads and infrastructure that we are leading to bring another million settlers [into the region], strengthen Israel’s security belt and eliminate the threat of a Palestinian terror state.”

Jonathan Lis, Hagar Shezaf