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<h1 class="gmail-">Israeli cabinet votes to formalize annexation
of occupied West Bank territory</h1>
<p class="gmail-">Israel will take over land registration in
Area C of the West Bank, in a move that amounts to 'annexation
on steroids'</p>
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<p><span style="color:rgb(84,88,94)">MAY 13, 2025 - </span><font
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href="https://thecradle.co/articles/israeli-cabinet-votes-to-formalize-annexation-of-occupied-west-bank-territory"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://thecradle.co/articles/israeli-cabinet-votes-to-formalize-annexation-of-occupied-west-bank-territory</a></font></p>
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alt="" width="473" height="266" style="margin-right: 0px;"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span>(Photo credit: Reuters)</span></div>
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<p><span style="background-color:transparent">In a
landmark and highly controversial decision, Israel's
cabinet </span><a
href="https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hj2alsezel"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="background-color:transparent">voted</span></a><span
style="background-color:transparent"> on 13 May to
take full responsibility for land registration in
Area C of the occupied West Bank \u2013 an area
comprising around 60 percent of the territory and
home to the vast majority of Israeli settlements.
The move, pushed by far-right Ministers Israel Katz
and Bezalel Smotrich, is widely being described by
critics as a de facto annexation of Palestinian
land.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">Under the
1995 Oslo Accords, Area C was placed under temporary
Israeli control, with an eventual transition to
Palestinian Authority (PA) administration expected.
That transition never materialized. Now, with the
new cabinet resolution, any land registration
efforts by Palestinians in Area C will be declared
legally void by Israel. Israeli authorities plan to
initiate formal land registration processes, conduct
widespread land surveys, and potentially reclassify
vast tracts as \u201cstate land,\u201d opening them for
settlement expansion.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">Under
international law, all Israeli settlement in the
occupied West Bank is illegal.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThis is a
dangerous step toward realizing the messianic vision
of the annexationist government,\u201d said Israeli
rights group Yesh Din, warning that the move
violates international law and threatens the rights
of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">Palestinian
activists, such as Ayed Jafry from the village of
Sinjil, say the policy will further entrench
dispossession. \u201cWe're now dealing directly with the
occupation again,\u201d he </span><a
href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-take-full-control-land-registry-area-c-annexation"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="background-color:transparent">told </span></a><span
style="background-color:transparent"><i>Middle East
Eye</i> (MEE). \u201cThis opens the door for settlers
to seize land without oversight.\u201d</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">According
to Israeli media, the government is changing its
policy from restricting land use unless permitted to
broadly permitting land claims unless explicitly
prohibited. Finance Minister Smotrich declared the
move part of a broader campaign of \u201cnormalization
and de facto sovereignty,\u201d aiming to eliminate any
prospects for a future Palestinian state.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">The
decision also directs Israeli security agencies to
block Palestinian land registration efforts, deny
foreign support for such projects, and create an
inter-ministerial team to coordinate land
registration within 60 days.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">The
development comes as Israel's Knesset prepares to
debate a bill that would further ease land purchases
for settlers, even within Palestinian towns. These
efforts coincide with new land surveys by the Civil
Administration's Regulation Unit, overseen by
Smotrich, which could reclassify private Palestinian
lands as public Israeli state land.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">Analysts
warn these sweeping measures could severely damage
Israel's diplomatic standing and bury any remaining
chances of a negotiated two-state solution.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">Dr Yohanan
Tzoreff, a senior researcher at Israel's Institute
for National Security Studies (INSS) and an expert
on Palestinian affairs, </span><a
href="https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hj2alsezel"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="background-color:transparent">said </span></a><span
style="background-color:transparent">these steps
amount to annexation.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThis is
Smotrich's life mission \u2013 he wants to entrench
irreversible facts on the ground that prevent any
possibility of a future two-state agreement,\u201d he
said. \u201cIn the past, this kind of move was done
cautiously. Now it's annexation on steroids.\u201d</span></p>
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