1 of 3 | Billboards advertise new houses for sale in the Shilo settlement, in the West Bank on Feb. 9. The Israeli Security Cabinet approved measures to expand Israel’s control of the West Bank by removing land sale restrictions, increasing enforcement in Areas A and B and renewing state-led land acquisition in the Palestinian territories. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo
The Israeli government is moving forward with a plan to register territory in the West Bank for the first time since it occupied the territory in 1967.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry says advancing the land registration process is an administrative measure but Palestinians call it an effort to annex the West Bank and displace Palestinians.
The Israeli government approved the proposal to reinstate the land registration process on Sunday after it was dormant for nearly six decades. The proposal was made by Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Justice Yariv Levin and Minister of Defense Israel Katz.
Land in the West Bank was previously registered under the Jordanian administration of the West Bank. It was under the control of Jordan until 1967 before becoming occupied by Israel during the Six Day War.
However, land registration only accounted for about 30% of the West Bank, leaving a majority of the West Bank unregistered.
The land registration process puts a burden on Palestinians to prove ownership of their land, something advocates say will be “almost impossible” for most of them to do under Israel’s standards.
“If they fail, the land will be automatically registered as state land,” Peace Now, an Israeli organization that advocates for a two-state solution, said in a statement.
Last week, the Security Cabinet of Israel approved a series of measures to expand its control over the West Bank. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres decried the decision, saying such actions are “destabilizing” and “unlawful.”
