Palestinian Authority Urges Palestinians to Withhold Information From Israel’s Area C Land Registration

The Palestinian Authority’s Land Authority urged Palestinians to withhold information from Israeli authorities after Jerusalem launched an electronic land registration system for Area C of the West Bank.

“Jerusalem — Palestinian official circles rejected the Israeli occupation authorities' move to initiate new steps to register West Bank lands, and called all residents of the West Bank or abroad not to engage with any 'entities or committees or platforms or procedures' of Israel regarding lands and real estate, except after consulting the competent Palestinian authorities”

Al-Jazeera Net

The Land Authority said the registration system was “an unprecedented and dangerous escalation aimed at imposing legal and administrative realities through the power of the occupation,” and alleged it would pave the way for annexation and land seizures in Area C.

Al-Jazeera Net

The Jerusalem Post reported that Palestinians responding to the statement complained the authority failed to make clear which “competent Palestinian authorities” to turn to, and some said they believed not engaging in the legal process would create an opportunity for Israel to mark their land as unregistered state land.

The Jerusalem Post also quoted property and land use law expert Dr. Ronit Levine-Schnur of Tel Aviv University saying that if Palestinians fail to register their land, it will be considered state land and could be seized as an “unintended” consequence.

France Palestine Solidarité described a January 8 operation in Nablus in which three Israeli bulldozers entered the al-Taawon neighborhood, escorted by five Border Police jeeps and a white vehicle belonging to the Civil Administration.

The report said agents accompanying the convoy fired tear-gas grenades at journalists and residents, and it described Mirsal Hattab watching two bulldozers crush the roof of his house while a third bulldozer pounded the Al-Abbad family’s house until it collapsed.

France Palestine Solidarité

France Palestine Solidarité said that just in January the Civil Administration demolished 24 structures for lacking building permits in Area C, and it cited OCHA figures that 2,461 Palestinian structures have been demolished in the past two years for this reason, compared with 4,984 in the previous nine years combined.

The article linked the surge in administrative demolitions to changes in land-use planning, including “lifting the ban on Jews buying land in the West Bank” and “accelerating declarations of Palestinian public lands—or lands with unclear ownership—as state lands.”

Al-Jazeera Net reported that Palestinian official circles rejected the Israeli occupation authorities’ move to initiate new steps to register West Bank lands and called all residents of the West Bank or abroad not to engage with Israeli “entities or committees or platforms or procedures” regarding lands and real estate.

“The Palestinian Authority’s Land Authority urged Palestinians to withhold information from Israeli authorities after Jerusalem launched an electronic land registration system for Area C of the West Bank”

The Jerusalem Post

The report said the Jerusalem Governorate and the Committee for the Resistance to the Wall stated that the Israeli occupation authorities launched an electronic platform to update land ownership, and it quoted the Lands Authority calling it a “dangerous colonial-occupational step that represents a direct assault on the Palestinian people's historic and legal rights to their land and property.”

Al-Jazeera Net added that on 15 February 2026, work began to transfer powers to the Israeli Ministry of Justice and the Israeli Survey Authority, with 244 million Israeli shekels allocated, and permanent acquisition began of about 58% of Area C.

The report also said the plan includes registering land ownership in Area C in the Israeli “Tabu” land registry for the first time since the 1967 occupation, while the Palestinian Authority’s responsibilities in these areas remain limited and the commander of the Israeli Central Command would complete settlement of 15% of the West Bank lands by the end of 2030.