*** Update from 14/5/25: The State attached the text of the cabinet decision to a request it submitted to the court. The cabinet decision could be found here. ***
On Sunday, 11/5/25, the Security Cabinet decided to initiate land registration process (also referred to as “land settlement process”) in Area C in the West Bank. The process of land registration determines definitive ownership of land, and due to its irreversible nature, international law prohibits an occupying power from carrying it out in occupied territory.
The stated goal of the decision, as formulated by the Minister of Defense in a statement he issued, is “to strengthen, consolidate, and expand Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria.“
The main implications of Israel conducting land registration in the West Bank:
♦ Creating a final registration of land ownership that will almost completely close the door for Palestinians to claim ownership of their lands.
♦ Massive dispossession of Palestinians from most of their lands in Area C and their registration in the name of the state.
♦ A process of annexation and the application of sovereignty in occupied territory.
♦ A blatant and direct violation of international law.
♦ Registration of lands in the land registry in the names of Israeli citizens, which will lead to legal complications and enormous costs when a two-state political settlement is reached.
To begin the process of land registration in the West Bank, a legislative change is required (issuing a military order) that will allow it, and the establishment of a mechanism that will carry out the registration procedures. The costs of such apparatus are estimated at tens of millions of shekels.
Peace Now: “The cabinet decision on a land registration in the West Bank is a mega theft of Palestinian lands in Area C. Land registration will result in the transfer of ownership of the vast majority of Area C to the state, and the Palestinians will have no practical way to realize their ownership rights.
It is not without reason that international law prohibits land registration in occupied territories, and Israel itself issued an order prohibiting it after 1967. The decision constitutes a move towards full-scale annexation.”
Implications of the Decision
1. Applying sovereignty (annexation)
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Defense, the security cabinet decided last night (11/5/25) to begin a land registration process in Area C, along with preventing the Palestinian Authority from carrying out land registration processes in the area. (Cabinet decisions are considered confidential and are not made public by the government; only a press release was issued.)
The land registration process is a process in which the authorities conduct a comprehensive investigation of land ownership and register ownership of each and every plot in the land registry. Due to its irreversible nature, pursuing it serves as an indirect tool for asserting sovereignty, and therefore it is prohibited under international law.
Because of that, shortly after the occupation of the West Bank, the military commander issued an order freezing the land registration proceedings (Order Suspending Settlement Proceedings No. 291 Judea and Samaria 5728-1968).
Minister Smotrich explicitly stated that this was an application of sovereignty in the press release published by the Ministry of Defense:
Smotrich: “For the first time, the State of Israel is taking responsibility for the territory as a permanent sovereign and is initiating the implementation of a land registration in Judea and Samaria. The land registration will create legal certainty, will enable land reserves for settlement development, and will prevent the PA’s efforts to take over the open areas.”
Minister of Defense Israel Katz: “This is a revolutionary decision that does justice to Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria and will lead to its strengthening, consolidation, and expansion.”
2. Dispossession of Palestinians from their lands
Given the conditions under which this registration process would be carried out, it will effectively constitute a massive land grab that would dispossess Palestinians of rights to nearly all land in Area C. An occupying power is not a neutral party that can fairly adjudicate land claims, and under conditions of occupation, land settlement cannot be conducted freely.
Palestinians lack access to the documents and information needed to prove their ownership. Hundreds of thousands of “absentees”—Palestinians who have left the West Bank over the years—will be unable to participate in the settlement process, even though many own land.
Since 1967, Israel has applied a harsh interpretation of the Ottoman Land Law and has declared about 900,000 dunams as “state land,” around 800,000 dunams of which are in Area C. Another 450,000 dunams are considered by Israeli authorities as “survey lands,” which the state also effectively claims as state property.
According to the Israeli interpretation, all land in the West Bank is presumed to be state land unless private owners can prove otherwise. The level of proof required is extremely high, including documents from the Ottoman, British, and Jordanian periods, inheritance records, complete ownership chains, survey maps, and legal opinions interpreting all these documents. Most of these are not in Palestinian hands.
In addition, Israeli authorities require proof that the land has been cultivated continuously since 1967. Very few Palestinians can meet this standard. In the rare cases where ownership can be proven, the state may still only recognize partial ownership if any of the land belongs to “absentees,” such as relatives living outside the West Bank.
Moreover, due to widespread distrust in Israeli institutions, it is unlikely that many Palestinians will cooperate with the land settlement process.
3. Blocking Palestinian Authority Land Registration Efforts
According to the press release, the cabinet decision also includes steps to prevent the land registration processes being carried out by the Palestinian Authority in Area C. The cabinet declares that the PA’s settlement processes in Area C are invalid and states that the security establishment will be instructed to “act to prevent the continuation of the Palestinian land registration, including preventing professionals from entering the area, blocking foreign funding for the registration process, and directly demanding that the Palestinian Authority cancel its action in this area.”
As is known, the 1995 interim agreement between Israel and the Palestinians left the management of the land in Area C in the hands of Israel (temporarily until the signing of the permanent settlement, which was supposed to be signed according to the agreement by May 1999). Therefore the land registration procedures carried out by the Palestinian Authority in Area C are invalid in the eyes of Israel. For its part, the Palestinian Authority, even if it cannot force Israel to recognize the ownerships it establishes in Area C, can nevertheless maintain a kind of “shadow registration” of the ownerships, which will assist it and the Palestinian residents in managing their lands and exercising their rights as much as possible even without Israeli recognition.
The cabinet decision is intended to prevent the Palestinians from carrying out this shadow registration, by preventing the transfer of foreign funding for this purpose, and by physically preventing surveyors and field workers from accessing the lands and carrying out the necessary work for land registration.
4. Land registration in the names of Israelis
On 29/1/25, the Knesset approved in a preliminary reading a bill according to which Israelis will be able to purchase land in the occupied territories. If this bill passes in a third reading and enters into force, it will mean that within the framework of the land registration promoted by the government in the West Bank, it will be possible to register land not only in the name of the state but also in the name of private Israeli citizens.
Currently, settlers do not have full ownership of the land where they live, but rather have a rights arrangement with the state. Their becoming registered owners in the land registry will create serious legal complications and will result in large financial costs when Israel finally seeks to reach an agreement with the Palestinians. This will also make it difficult for the government in the evacuation and compensation procedures that are expected for the settlers as part of a future agreement.
For more information on the land registration process, see a comprehensive paper by the Yesh Din organization.
For the text of the cabinet decision see here.