JERUSALEM — Israel’s security cabinet on Sunday approved a series of decisions to change policy in the occupied West Bank aimed at reshaping the legal and civil framework in the occupied West Bank to bolster Israeli control and expand settlement activity, according to Israeli media reports.Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz said that the decisions “dramatically” change policy in the West Bank, including at sensitive sites such as Hebron, paving the way for further settlement expansion.The public broadcaster KAN said the decisionsinclude repealing a Jordanian-era law that bars the sale of Palestinian land to Jews in the West Bank, unsealing land ownership records, and transferring authority over building permits in a settlement bloc in the city of Hebron from the Palestinian municipality to Israel’s Civil Administration.The measures are expected to bring sweeping changes to land registration and purchasing mechanisms in the West Bank, Yedioth Ahronoth daily said.Opening land records would publicly disclose owners’ names and enable Israeli buyers to contact them directly, easing land purchases and settlement expansion across the territory, the outlet added.According to a joint statement from the ministers, the decisions are “intended to remove decades-old barriers, repeal discriminatory Jordanian legislation, and enable accelerated development of settlement” in the region.“We are committed to removing barriers, creating legal and civil certainty, and allowing settlers to live, build and develop on equal footing with every citizen of Israel,” Katz said.Smotrich said the move is “normalizing life in the West Bank” and promises to “continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state.”The statement added that enforcement and oversight of Israel would be extended to areas under Palestinian Authority control, over “water violations and archaeological damage”.The policy changes also affect the contested Ibrahami Mosque in Hebron, a site considered holy in Islam, Judaism and Christianity.Times of Israel reported that the new policy transfers authority over building permits for the Israeli settlement in Hebron from the Palestinian Authority to Israel.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new Israeli policy aimed at deepening attempts to annex the West Bank, adding that it was a “continuation of the comprehensive war” waged by the Israeli government against Palestinians, Wafa news reported.”These decisions also violate all agreements signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, as well as international law and resolutions of international legitimacy, and constitute a blatant violation of the Oslo Accords and the Hebron Agreement,” said a statement issued by the Palestinian president’s office.Any infringement upon Islamic and Christian holy sites was dangerous, the statement said, adding that any violation of the Ibrahimi Mosque and the transfer of authority over it are unacceptable.The mosque, also known as the Sanctuary of Ibrahim, is a series of caves situated in the Old City of Hebron in the West Bank, 30 kilometers south of Jerusalem. Israel has sought to take broader control of the site.In January, it barred the mosque’s Palestinian directors and seized planning rights over part of the site, in contravention of longstanding arrangements.It has come amid increasing settler attacks and access restrictions against Palestinian holy sites since October 2023, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque inEast Jerusalem and Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.The Palestinian Authority prohibits the sale of land in Hebron to settlers and holds it to be a criminal activity punishable by imprisonment.Over 200,000 Palestinians live in the city, where the Israeli forces and some 1,000 settlers control nearly one-fifth of the area.The Yesha Council, which represents Israeli settlements, said the decisions were “entrenching Israeli sovereignty on the ground, de facto.”Israeli authorities have continued to demolish Palestinian homes and structures across the West Bank on the grounds of lacking permits, amid what Palestinians describe as restrictive policies that make it difficult to obtain building approvals. — Agencies
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