Israel’s neighbors condemn West Bank move seen as “de facto beginning” of annexation of Palestinian territory

Jerusalem — Israel’s government has approved a process to register land in the occupied West Bank as “state property,” drawing condemnation from Arab nations and critics who said it would accelerate annexation of the Palestinian territory.

Israel’s foreign ministry said the measure, approved late Sunday, would enable “transparent and thorough clarification of rights to resolve legal disputes” and was needed after unlawful land registration in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

But Egypt, Qatar and Jordan criticized the move as illegal under international law.

Arab nations, Palestinians call move “de facto beginning” of annexation

In a statement, the Egyptian government called it a “dangerous escalation aimed at consolidating Israeli control over the occupied Palestinian territories.”

Qatar’s foreign ministry condemned the “decision to convert West Bank lands into so-called ‘state property’,” saying it would “deprive the Palestinian people of their rights.”

Jordan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the country “strongly condemns the actions of the Israeli government targeting the annexation of occupied Palestinian land, most recently the illegitimate Israeli government decision converting lands in the West Bank into so-called ‘state property.’ This constitutes a blatant violation of international law and international humanitarian law, undermines the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and obstructs the establishment of their independent sovereign state .”

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority called for international intervention to prevent the “de facto beginning of the annexation process and the undermining of the foundations of the Palestinian state.”

Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now called the measure a “mega land grab.”

The process will take place only in Area C, which constitutes some 60% of West Bank territory and is under Israeli security and administrative control.

“There was a lot of ambiguity regarding the land, and Israel decided now to deal with it,” Peace Now co-directorJonathan Mizrachi told AFP on Monday, adding that the existing ambiguity over Area C land ownership is likely to be used against Palestinians.

“A lot of land that Palestinians consider theirs, they will find out it’s not theirs under this new registration process,” he said, adding the move will further the Israeli right’s annexation agenda.

The European Union also issued a statement condemning the move Monday as a “new escalation after recent measures already aimed at extending Israeli control” of the Palestinian territory. 

“We reiterate that annexation is illegal under international law,” EU foreign affairs spokesman Anouar El Anouni said in a statement. “We call on Israel to reverse this decision.”  

There was no immediate reaction from Israeli officials to the condemnation from the country’s neighbors and the EU.

“Rapid steps to change permanently the demography” of the West Bank

Last week, Israel’s security cabinet approved a series of measures backed by far-right ministers to tighten control over areas of the West Bank administered by the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo accords, in place since the 1990s.

Those measures, which also sparked international backlash, include allowing Jewish Israelis to buy West Bank land directly and allowing Israeli authorities to administer certain religious sites in areas under the Palestinian Authority’s control.

The moves drew a joint statement from eight Muslim-majority nations, including close U.S. allies Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, condemning “in the strongest terms the illegal Israeli decisions and measures aimed at imposing unlawful Israeli sovereignty, entrenching settlement activity, and enforcing a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank, thereby accelerating attempts at its illegal annexation and the displacement of the Palestinian people.”

Palestinians see the West Bank as foundational to any future Palestinian state, but many on Israel’s religious right want to take over the land.

Around three million Palestinians live in the territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

The latest Israeli initiatives come amid a wider context of increasing attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the territory, according to rights groups.

“We are witnessing rapid steps to change permanently the demography of the occupied Palestinian territory, stripping its people of their lands and forcing them to leave,” United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said in a recent statement.

Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law. Israel has conducted numerous military and police operations in the West Bank in recent years, accusing Hamas and other terrorist groups of operating in the territory and using it as a platform from which to launch attacks on Israel.

Trump administration quieter after repeatedly rejecting annexation

President Trump has opposed Israel’s annexation of the West Bank, saying stability in the territory helps keep Israel secure, but he has not directly criticized the latest Israeli measures, despite the international outrage.

“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,” Mr. Trump told reporters bluntly in September 2025. “There’s been enough [Israeli settlement expansion]. It’s time to stop now.”

Vice President JD Vance criticized on Thursday a vote by the Israeli parliament to advance a bill on the proposed annexation of the occupied West Bank, calling it “a very stupid political stunt.”

“I personally take some insult to it,” Vance said at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport as he departed the country after his visit. “The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy. And if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that, but we certainly weren’t happy about it.”

Many far-right nationalist members of the Israeli government have voiced hope since Mr. Trump won his second term in office, however, that his pro-Israel stance could make annexation a reality.

Netanyahu’s Likud party is part of a coalition government — formed to keep him in power — 
with radical right-wing nationalist parties including the Religious Zionist Party. Netanyahu committed to pursuing West Bank annexation in Likud’s coalition agreement with the Religious Zionist Party.

“The people of Israel have a natural right to the Land of Israel,” the agreement says. “In light of the belief in the aforementioned right, the Prime Minister will lead the formulation and promotion of a policy within the framework of which sovereignty will be applied in the West Bank, while choosing the timing and considering all national and international interests of the state of Israel.”

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister and a member of the Religious Zionist Party, said in 2024 that he believed Israel could work with the then-incoming Trump administration to promote annexation of the West Bank.

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