WEST BANK, Feb 15: The Israeli government has approved a proposal to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as "state property," for the first time since the Israeli occupation of the territory in 1967.
Israeli public broadcaster KAN on Sunday said the proposal was submitted by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, and Defence Minister Israel Katz.
"We are continuing the settlement revolution to control all our lands," said Smotrich.
Most Palestinian land is not formally registered because it is a long, complicated process that Israel stopped in 1967. Registration of land establishes permanent ownership. International law states an occupying power cannot confiscate land in occupied territories.
The Palestinian Presidency slammed the Israeli government's decision, calling it a "serious escalation" and saying the Israeli move effectively nullifies signed agreements and clearly contradicts resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, Wafa news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Katz described the move as an "essential security and governance measure designed to ensure control, enforcement, and full freedom of action for the State of Israel in the area", the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported.
Last week, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved measures promoted by Smotrich and Katz that further facilitate the unlawful seizure of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
Analysts describe it as a de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory, warning that it will profoundly reshape its civil and legal landscape by eliminating what the Israeli ministers called longstanding "legal obstacles" to the expansion of illegal settlements there. �"AL JAZEERA
