Israel’s Security Cabinet on Sunday approved a series of measures aimed at significantly changing the legal and civil framework in the occupied West Bank, boosting Israeli control and facilitating settlement expansion, Israeli media reported.
According to public broadcaster KAN, the decisions, driven by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, include repealing a Jordanian-era law that prohibits the sale of Palestinian land to Jews in the West Bank, unsealing land ownership records, and transferring authority over building permits in a Hebron settlement bloc from the Palestinian municipality to Israel’s Civil Administration.
Yedioth Ahronoth noted that these steps are expected to transform land registration and purchase processes in the West Bank. Opening land records will publicly reveal property owners’ names, allowing Israeli buyers to contact them directly and streamlining land acquisitions and settlement expansion.
The cabinet also eliminated the need for a special “transaction permit” to finalize land purchases and reduced the Civil Administration’s oversight to basic registration requirements, a move the newspaper described as a significant legal shift that would be challenging to reverse.
Additionally, the measures expand Israeli enforcement powers into Areas A and B, citing alleged violations such as unlicensed construction, water-related issues, and damage to archaeological and environmental sites. This could allow Israeli authorities to demolish or seize Palestinian property even in areas under Palestinian civil and security control, the reports said.
Some of the decisions directly impact Hebron, transferring planning and construction authority at the Ibrahimi Mosque and surrounding religious sites from the Hebron municipality to Israel’s Civil Administration planning bodies. This change would conflict with arrangements under the 1997 Hebron Protocol between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
KAN quoted Katz as saying the decisions “reflect a clear policy to strengthen the Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria,” using the Hebrew term for the West Bank. Smotrich added that the measures “end discrimination against settlers,” according to the broadcaster.
Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, Area A is under full Palestinian civil and security control, Area B under Palestinian civil control with Israeli security oversight, and Area C under full Israeli control.
Israeli authorities have continued demolishing Palestinian homes and structures across the West Bank due to lack of permits, amid what Palestinians describe as restrictive policies making it extremely difficult to obtain building approvals.
According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, Israel carried out 538 demolitions in 2025, affecting roughly 1,400 homes and structures—an unprecedented rise compared with previous years.
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