Israel's security cabinet has given approval to a set of measures that media reports say will make it easier for Jewish private citizens to purchase land in the occupied West Bank while simultaneously expanding Israeli enforcement authority over Palestinians in some areas, according to Israeli news outlets.
The West Bank is among the territories the Palestinians seek for a prospective independent state. Much of the territory remains under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in certain zones administered by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).
Citing statements attributed to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz, the Israeli outlets Ynet and Haaretz reported the approved steps would remove regulations in place for decades that have prevented Jewish private citizens from buying land in the West Bank. The reporting said the measures also include provisions to permit Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites.
In addition, the measures were reported to extend Israeli supervision and enforcement into areas under PA administration for specific categories of offences. These areas of expanded oversight, as described in the reporting, include environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas responded to the reported measures by calling them dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation. Requests for comment to the Israeli ministers named in the reports were not immediately answered, the accounts said.
The timing of the reported approvals was noted in the coverage: they come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to meet in Washington with U.S. President Donald Trump. The reporting recalled that while President Trump has said he ruled out formal Israeli annexation of the West Bank, his administration has not moved to restrict Israel's accelerated settlement building, an activity the Palestinians say reduces the territory available for a future state.
Netanyahu, who faces an election later this year, regards the creation of a Palestinian state as a security risk, according to the reporting. His ruling coalition includes several pro-settler members who advocate for Israel to annex the West Bank, territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.
The coverage also referenced a 2024 non-binding advisory opinion from the United Nations' highest court, which said Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be brought to an end as soon as possible. The reporting added that Israel disputes that view.