Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement & Annexation Report, this week we are issuing an covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.
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- Annexation – – Israel Green Lights Land Registration in the West Bank Area C
- East Jerusalem & the Old City News
- West Bank Settlement & Annexation News
- Israeli Politics
- U.S. Politics
- Marking 77 Years of Ongoing Nakba
Annexation – – Israel Green Lights Land Registration in the West Bank Area C
On May 11th, the Israeli Cabinet passed a resolution to begin the process of land registration across Area C of the West Bank — a process that will result in the mass displacement of Palestinian and de facto annexation of 60% of the West Bank. Subsequent to the Cabinet resolution, the government has already begun using this decision to start the land registration process as a pretext for legalizing outposts and unauthorized settlement construction.
The Cabinet’s order calls for the establishment of an inter-ministerial team to prepare and initiate land registration within 60 days, and allocated 4 million to the effort as a starting budget. Making clear the intent behind this process, Bezalel Smotrich – who exercises nearly unchecked powers over civilian affairs in the West Bank – celebrated this step saying:
“[The Cabinet’s resolution is] part of the normalization and de facto sovereignty revolution that we are leading in Judea and Samaria…the State of Israel is taking responsibility for the territory as a permanent sovereign…[land registration] will create legal certainty, enable land reserves for settlement development.”
Defense Minister Katz also celebrated, saying that Israel-led registration “does justice for Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria, and will strengthen, consolidate and broaden it.”.
Only one-third of West Bank land was registered and titled (under the British Mandatory government and then continued by Jordan) when Israel seized control of the West Bank and froze land registration proceedings. Under an Israel-led registration process, Palestinians will be forced to attempt to prove ownership of their land despite knowing Israel has designed the process in a manner in which their historic documentation is either unsatisfactory or totally inaccessible. If Palestinians do not meet the Israeli standard, their land will automatically be registered in the name of the State. This process will inevitably result in the massive transfer of land into Israel’s possession. Indeed – in East Jerusalem the land registration process has already been weaponized by the Israeli government to accelerate settlement growth.
Peace Now said in a statement:
“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.”
Successive Israeli governments have openly called for land registration to be carried out, and the current Israeli government included it in its coalition agreements. At the time the coalition agreements were signed in January 2023, a coalition of Israeli human rights groups issued a report with the following analysis:
“The agreements include a commitment to renewing the settlement of title process (land registry) in the West Bank, which was halted when Israel captured it in 1967. This measure, which determines land ownership registration in the West Bank, has critical implications for Palestinians’ property rights in the OPT. Given Israel’s legal approach to proof of ownership (which differs from practices prior to the Israeli occupation), and Palestinians’ lack of access to the relevant databases, the measure is expected to dispossess Palestinians of property rights on a colossal scale, effecting a broad, long-term change in the occupied territory.”
East Jerusalem & the Old City News
- “Urgent: Multi-Story Building Home to Some 100 Palestinians Faces Imminent Demolition in Wadi Qaddum, East Jerusalem” (Ir Amim, 5/15/25)
- “Israeli forces raid, vandalize historical landmark near Al-Aqsa Mosque” (Wafa, 5/6/25)
West Bank Settlement & Annexation News
- “Israel Launches Excavation at Ancient Site of Sebastia in Palestinian Village in West Bank” (Haaretz, 5/12/25)
- “Israeli minister Smotrich leads settlers in Palestinian flag burning procession inside Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque” (The New Arab, 5/16/27)
- “Five Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in West Bank” (Al-Monitor, 5/15/25)
- “Settlers set fire to 15 Palestinian vehicles in West Bank, Palestinian media reports” (The Times of Israel, 5/16/25)
- “The Destruction of Khalet a-Daba” (Jewish Currents, 5/13/25)
- “How Israel is quietly moving toward de facto annexation in the West Bank” (Ynet, 5/13/25)
- “No One Charged Over a Year After Israeli Settlers, Soldiers Assaulted Palestinians, Leftist Activists” (Haaretz, 5/14/25)
- ““This is my home, and I will never leave”: Israel’s forced displacement of Palestinians” (Amnesty International, 5/15/25)
- From the Mouth of settlers: “The Tide is Turning: The Jewish Farmers Winning the War for Judea and Samaria” (Israel 365, 5/14/25)
Israeli Politics
- “Opinion | This Settler Conference Left No Room for Doubt – the Liberal Bloc Must Replace Its Leaders” (Haaretz, 5/11/25)
- “How Kahanism found its way into the Israeli political mainstream” (+972 Magazine, 5/14/25)
- “Flatten the West Bank? Why Israelis Are Apathetic About the War Crimes Committed in Their Name” (Haaretz, 5/15/25)
U.S. Politics
- “We are human rights lawyers. Our new report is clear: Israel perpetrates apartheid – Sandra L Babcock, Susan M Akram, Thomas Becker and James Cavallaro” (The Guardian, 5/15/25)
- “US Gaza pier op was more than a flop, it was a gigantic hazard” (Responsibly Statecraft, 5/7/25)
Marking 77 Years of Ongoing Nakba
- “Nakba at 77: Israel’s Territorial Control and Demographic Manipulation Amidst Gaza Genocide – Towards Annexation and Resettlement” (Al-Haq)
- “77 Years Since the Nakba: Palestinians Face Imminent Danger” (Adalah)
- “The Nakba Is Ongoing, and Its Most Brutal Phase Is Unfolding in Gaza” (Al-Mezan)
- “Ongoing Expulsion” (Visualizing Palestine)