Israel seizes over 26 dunams of Palestinian land in occupied West Bank

Israeli authorities have issued a military order to seize more than 26 dunams of Palestinian land northwest of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian commission said on Tuesday. “The military order, issued on Oct. 28, places 26.473 dunams (6.54 acres) of land in Deir Nizam, Umm Safa and Atara under Israeli military control for what Israel described as ‘military purposes’,” the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said in a statement.

“The land is designated for a route called the Ateret–Neve Tzuf emergency axis, intended to provide connectivity between Israeli settlement sites in the area,” it added. The order will remain in effect until the end of 2028 and grants the Israeli military exclusive possession of the route specified in maps attached to the order, the statement said. The commission said 5.891 dunams (1.46 acres), or around 22.3% of the seized area, are classified by Israeli authorities as ‘state land,’ while another 20.582 dunams (5.09 acres) fall outside that classification.

“The route can strengthen connections between illegal settlements and outposts around Ateret and Halamish, also known as Neve Tzuf, while potentially imposing further restrictions on Palestinian landowners’ access to nearby plots,” it said. The commission noted that the military order provides for temporary seizure and possession of the land rather than formally transferring ownership, warning that its use for settlement-related infrastructure raises concerns over the expansion of Israeli control in the area.

Israeli authorities have increasingly used military seizure orders to take control of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank. The UN considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, illegal under international law. UN Security Council Resolution 2334 states that the settlements have “no legal validity,” while the International Court of Justice said in a July 2024 advisory opinion that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful and called for the evacuation of settlements from the West Bank and East Jerusalem.