‘Illegal’ Israeli measures in West Bank aim to block statehood, Palestinian government says
Government urges all governmental and private institutions 'not to engage with these new Israeli measures and to abide by the applicable Palestinian laws and regulations'
Jewish settlers, under the protection of Israeli forces, seize a house belonging to the Nasir al-Din family in the Old City of Hebron, West Bank on September 02, 2025
RAMALLAH, Palestine
The Palestinian government on Tuesday denounced recent Israeli decisions on the occupied West Bank as “illegal,” saying the measures will not discourage Palestinians from establishing their independent state.
On Sunday, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a series of decisions allowing Israelis to purchase land in the occupied West Bank, repealing Jordanian-era laws that have governed land ownership since 1967, and extending Israeli authority into areas under Palestinian civil control.
The decisions include repealing a law barring the sale of Palestinian land to Jews in the West Bank, unsealing land ownership records, and transferring building permit authority in a Hebron settlement bloc from the Palestinian municipality to Israel’s civil administration.
These measures “are further illegal steps to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state by all means," the government said in a statement following a weekly meeting in Ramallah.
It urged all governmental and private institutions "not to engage with these new Israeli measures and to abide by the applicable Palestinian laws and regulations."
The government stressed rejection of “any infringement on the historical status of Islamic and Christian holy sites,” citing a recent Israeli decision to transfer authority over the Ibrahimi Mosque from the Hebron Municipality to the Israeli Civil Administration.
According to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, the measures are expected to bring sweeping changes to land registration and purchasing mechanisms in the West Bank.
The Cabinet's decisions coincided with intensified Israeli assaults in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, which included killings, arrests, displacement, and settlement expansion as a prelude to formally annexing the territory.
At least 1,112 Palestinians have been killed, about 11,500 wounded, and more than 21,000 arrested during that period.
In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
*Writing by Rania Abushamala in Istanbul
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