Israel Issues Notices To Seize 11 Dunams In Masafer Yatta South Of Hebron
Key Takeaways
- Israeli authorities issued seizure notices for 11 dunams in Masafer Yatta.
- Notices delivered by the Planning and Administrative Control Authority with military accompaniment in Masafer Yatta.
- Rights groups describe it as dispossession and violation of international law.
Seizure Notices in Hebron
Israeli occupation authorities delivered notices to seize Palestinian land in the Masafer Yatta area, south of Hebron, targeting 11 dunams, according to WAFA and a report carried by Saba.
“Photo: The Israeli army demolishes a Palestinian house in the village of Lasaifer in Masafer Yatta, Hebron, April 2024 © Mohammad Hureini”
The Saba report says the notice was delivered on Sunday by the so-called "Administration and Planning Authority" accompanied by its forces to residents in Masafer Yatta.
Palestinian media activist Osama Makhameh, as quoted by WAFA, said the notice targeted areas of land near the "Avihail" settlement, which was established on Palestinian land approximately three years ago.
The WAFA-linked account adds that the settlement has expanded recently, encompassing hundreds of dunams, after Palestinians were expelled and prevented from accessing adjacent lands.
It also says Israeli authorities continued to open new roads adjacent to the settlement in areas of Al-Rakeez and east of Shaab Al-Batm.
The same WAFA-linked report says the measures included a previous decision to take control of an old road stretching from Wadi Ma’in toward eastern Shaab Al-Batm.
It concludes that these steps prevented residents from using the road, fragmented population centers in Masafer Yatta, and increased the suffering of residents while restricting their movement.
Tubas Land Confiscation
Beyond Hebron, WAFA reported an order to seize and confiscate land in Tubas, describing a Thursday action affecting the town of Tammoun, southeast of Tubas in the occupied West Bank.
In the WAFA-linked account carried by the Palestinian news agency, Moataz Bisharat, head of the Jordan Valley file for the Tubas governorate, said the commander of the occupying army issued a military order placing under control and confiscating 5 dunams and 217 square meters of land in the Jalma Assaf area.
The report says the lands lie east of the illegal Beqaot settlement, built on Palestinian land in the region.
It adds that Israeli forces had already issued a military order confiscating more than eight dunams of land belonging to Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron.
The same WAFA-linked text says that last month Israeli authorities seized a total of 262 dunams of Palestinian land through two expropriation orders aimed at widening a colonial road north of Jerusalem.
It specifies that the first order allowed the seizure of 258 dunams belonging to the villages of Jaba, Kafr Aqab, al-Ram, Mikhmas, and Qalandiya for the expansion of Route 45 connecting Route 60 to the settlements of Binyamin and Kokhav Ya'akov up to the Qalandiya checkpoint.
The second order involved 4.5 dunams for widening another colonial road, as described in the WAFA report.
Land Registration and Legal Mechanisms
A separate report focused on Israeli land registration procedures in the occupied West Bank, describing the move as a way to facilitate expropriation and displacement of Palestinians.
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Association France Palestine Solidarité reported that Israel’s decision to resume land registration procedures in the occupied West Bank for the first time since 1967 would facilitate expropriation and displacement of Palestinians, in violation of international law, according to Israeli human rights groups.
The report says the land registration process, also called 'land title settlement', was reinstated after nearly six decades, following Sunday’s approval by the government of a proposal submitted by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, and Defense Minister Israel Katz.
It quotes Bimkom, an Israeli human rights advocacy organization focusing on land rights and the right to housing, saying the measure provides Israel with a legal means to 'systematize the looting of Palestinian land in order to continue the expansion of Israeli settlements and to consolidate the apartheid regime'.
Michal Braier, head of research at Bimkom, told Al Jazeera that land registration will be inaccessible to a large portion of the Palestinian population who have never officially registered their lands or who may not be able to prove ownership.
The report adds that in the occupied West Bank, land registration under Jordanian administration covered about 30% of the total area, leaving about 70% 'totally unregistered'.
It says the government’s decision aims to settle the issue of 15% of unregistered lands in the West Bank within four years, designating competent authorities, creating a dedicated administrative unit, and allocating funds under the 2026 budget law, which has not yet been approved.
Voices on Annexation
The land registration campaign was framed by multiple rights groups and advocates as a mechanism for annexation and control, with the report citing both legal and historical arguments.
The Association France Palestine Solidarité account says Peace Now described the restored land registration process as amounting to a 'total annexation' of Palestinian lands, and it includes a direct quote from Hagit Ofran to Al Jazeera: 'It's a way for Israel to take control of the West Bank,' and 'The government is asking for documents that go back to the British Mandate or the Jordanian era, 100 years ago.'
The report also says the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition opposing the resumption of the land registration process filed by local human rights groups Bimkom, Yesh Din, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and HaMoked, and it quotes the court ruling that it was 'premature' to rule on the implementation of the government’s decision.
It further states that even for Palestinians whose lands have been registered, 'the legal bar to prove land ownership is very, very high, so that most Palestinians do not have the proper documents to prove it,' quoting Braier.
The report describes a similar scenario in East Jerusalem where the land titling process began in 2018 and led to the expropriation of Palestinian lands, and it says Bimkom’s research showed that only 1% of East Jerusalem's lands registered between 2018 and 2024 were registered in the name of Palestinians.
It adds that the rest came under the control of the Israeli state or Israeli private landowners, reinforcing the de facto annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel.
The report then cites an International Court of Justice advisory opinion in 2024, quoting the ICJ that 'the expropriation of land and property, the transfer of populations and the legislation aimed at incorporating the occupied part are totally invalid and cannot modify this status.'
Escalation Through Roads and Control
Taken together, the reports depict a pattern of land control actions that combine seizure notices, road access changes, and legal processes for land titles, all described as expanding Israeli control over Palestinian territory.
“Photo: The Israeli army demolishes a Palestinian house in the village of Lasaifer in Masafer Yatta, Hebron, April 2024 © Mohammad Hureini”
In Masafer Yatta, WAFA says the notice to seize 11 dunams targets land near the "Avihail" settlement and describes how the settlement has expanded after Palestinians were expelled and prevented from accessing adjacent lands.
The WAFA-linked account also says Israeli authorities opened new roads adjacent to the settlement in Al-Rakeez and east of Shaab Al-Batm, and it says a previous decision to take control of an old road from Wadi Ma’in toward eastern Shaab Al-Batm prevented residents from using the road and fragmented population centers.
In Tubas, the WAFA-linked report describes a military order placing under control and confiscating 5 dunams and 217 square meters in Jalma Assaf, while also recounting earlier confiscations of more than eight dunams in Masafer Yatta.
The land registration report adds that Israel froze most land titling procedures in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank in 1968, making it difficult for Palestinians to prove property transfer within families, and it describes how documents may have been lost or kept in homes inaccessible to refugees displaced by the 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli war and the Six-Day War of 1967.
It then says the government’s decision aims to settle 15% of unregistered lands in the West Bank within four years and allocates funds under the 2026 budget law, which has not yet been approved.
The report’s legal framing is reinforced by the ICJ advisory opinion quoted as holding that long-term occupation is illegal and should end 'as soon as possible.'
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