Israel has attracted international criticism after approving a series of measures designed to cement its control over the occupied West Bank.
One of the most significant changes included in Sunday’s security cabinet decision allows Israelis to buy West Bank land directly from Palestinians. Previously, settlers could only buy homes from registered companies on land controlled by Israel’s government, under a lengthy and complicated process.
The measures also include the transfer of authority for construction in the flashpoint city of Hebron from the Palestinian Authority to Israel and reinforcement of Israeli control over two major religious sites in the southern West Bank: Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
The European Union condemned the measures as “another step in the wrong direction”.
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The decision runs counter to the Oslo Accords, the EU statement said, under which Israel has no authority over civilian matters in the predominantly Palestinian areas A and B of the West Bank.
Under the Oslo interim peace accords of 1993, Area A was designated as under security control of the Palestinian Authority and Area B as under joint control with Israel. Most of the West Bank became Area C under full Israeli security control.
EU sanctions against Israel, including suspending parts of the EU-Israel trade agreement, are still “on the table”, the statement said, reiterating that measures proposed by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in September came in reaction to Israeli actions in the West Bank, in addition to Gaza.
Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, himself a settler, said it will now be easier for Jews to take over Palestinian land. “We will continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state,” he said.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, calling on the US and the United Nations to intervene, said the measures were “dangerous” and an “open Israeli attempt to legalise settlement expansion, land confiscation and the demolition of Palestinian properties, even in areas under Palestinian sovereignty”.
The measures were approved days before Wednesday’s scheduled White House meeting between US president Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
While Washington refrained from criticising the Israeli measures, a White House official reiterated Trump’s opposition to Israeli annexation.
He “has clearly stated that he does not support Israel annexing the West Bank”, the official said. “A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration’s goal to achieve peace in the region."
Eight Arab and Muslim countries also condemned the Israeli decision, calling it an imposition of “illegitimate sovereignty” intended to “establish the settlement enterprise”.
The statement – signed by Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkey and Pakistan – also said the steps taken by Israel in the West Bank “inflame violence, deepen the conflict and endanger regional stability and security”.
