Israel Katz And Bezalel Smotrich Adopt Land Measures Strengthening Control In West Bank

The UN, along with several Arab countries and the European Union, condemned on Tuesday Israel's adoption of new land measures that strengthen the Israeli state's control over the West Bank, raising fears of a sharp contraction of the geographic space in which Palestinians live.

“This is a genuine cultural cleansing”

Ahraminfo

France 24 said the move, announced on February 8 by the Israeli security cabinet, would authorize Israelis to buy land directly in the occupied West Bank and would strengthen Israeli control over areas of the territory where the Palestinian Authority nonetheless exercises its authority (Areas A and B).

Ahraminfo

The program was presented by Defense Minister Israel Katz and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and France 24 reported that it would deepen Israeli control while also lifting restrictions that had previously limited land acquisition by residents of the occupied West Bank or companies registered there.

France 24 also reported that the cabinet decision would open land registries to public consultation and end the obligation to obtain a transaction permit for real estate acquisition, while expanding Israeli control in Areas A and B and at the Hebron site.

Amnesty International said on February 26, 2026 that since December 2025 Israeli authorities adopted illegal measures aimed at dispossessing Palestinians of their land in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to make annexation an irreversible reality.

Ahraminfo described the use of archaeology as a tool of annexation, calling it "a genuine cultural cleansing" in which Palestinian heritage is under an offensive that uses hijacking of archaeological sites as a pretext to impose annexation in the West Bank.

It said the Israeli authorities informed the municipality of their decision to confiscate the entire archaeological site of Sebastia to transform it into the 'Shomron National Park' over an area of 450 dunams.

Al-Jazeera Net

Ahraminfo added that the plan provides for putting 14 major archaeological sites under Israeli sovereignty, resulting in a ban on Palestinian access and the confiscation of surrounding farmland, and it cited Mohammed Jaradat saying this systematic looting intensified in 2024, even affecting Area B defined by the Oslo Accords.

The same report quoted Mohammad Azem, mayor of the locality of Sebastia, saying: "Unfortunately, Sebastia has entered a dark tunnel."

Al-Jazeera Net reported that the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Academic Freedom Committee warned that Israeli steps extend direct civilian control over archaeological sites and use heritage and archaeology as tools to seize land and erase the Palestinian people’s historical connection to it.

Amnesty International framed the West Bank measures as part of a broader pattern of impunity, saying the accelerated expansion of illegal settlements and the surge in violence and state-condoned crimes by settlers point to the "catastrophic failure of the international community" to take decisive action.

“Since December 2025, Israeli authorities have adopted a set of illegal measures aimed at dispossessing Palestinians of their land in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and making the annexation of the territory an irreversible reality, Amnesty International said on February 26, 2026”

Amnesty International

It also said the unconditional support of the U.S. government, combined with the widespread absence of international accountability for the genocide Israel is perpetrating against Palestinians in Gaza, encourage Israel to intensify illegal actions, including formalizing land grabs.

Al-Jazeera Net reported that MESA’s letter to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and UNESCO Director-General Khaled Al-Anani warned that a bill approved by the Knesset in its first reading would establish a Heritage Authority under the Israeli Ministry of Heritage named the Judea and Samaria Heritage Authority.

The letter said the law would violate the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the Fourth Geneva Convention, and it urged international organizations to monitor Israeli actions affecting archaeology and cultural property and oppose annexation of the occupied Palestinian territories.

Ahraminfo added that it viewed these maneuvers as enabling the transfer of Palestinian antiquities and said professor of international law Mohammed Mahran called the conduct "organized cultural theft" and a war crime under international humanitarian law.