Jerusalem: A series of new Israeli policy moves in the occupied West Bank is raising alarms among analysts and rights groups, who say the measures amount to de facto annexation even as Washington maintains its stated opposition to any formal annexation.
According to Anadolu Agency, the steps, which expand Israeli administrative and legal control over Palestinian land, are reshaping realities on the ground and testing the limits of what US President Donald Trump has described as a red line. Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now publicly urged Trump to intervene, warning in a social media post that the Netanyahu government’s actions risk undermining any future peace initiative.
On Sunday, Israel approved a proposal to register Palestinian land in the West Bank as ‘state property,’ marking the first time such a formal legal mechanism has been applied in territory under Israeli occupation. The measure is part of a broader package of decisions adopted by Israel’s Security Cabinet aimed at expanding settlement activity and consolidating Israeli control.
Recent steps include repealing restrictions on the sale of West Bank land to Israeli settlers, unsealing land ownership records, and transferring building permit authority in a settlement bloc near Hebron from a Palestinian municipality to Israel’s civil administration. Last week, Trump reiterated his stance in an interview with Axios, saying, ‘I am against annexation.’
For settlement monitors, the shift in land registration policy represents a fundamental turning point. Yonatan Mizrachi of Peace Now’s Settlement Watch Team described the move as ‘full annexation,’ noting that Israeli authorities historically avoided formal land registration changes because of the territory’s disputed status. He explained that incomplete land registration records have long complicated ownership claims, and formal registration could now enable large-scale land loss.
Some analysts see the measures as part of a broader strategy to reshape demographics and territorial control incrementally rather than through a single dramatic annexation. Ryan Bohl, a senior Middle East and North Africa analyst at the RANE Network, said the policy changes could facilitate a slow displacement of Palestinians and argued that Israel is unlikely to formally annex the entire West Bank at once to avoid direct confrontation with Washington.
Mairav Zonszein, senior analyst for Israel at the International Crisis Group, said Trump’s opposition applies only to formal annexation declarations. She noted that with elections looming, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich appear intent on cementing policies that future governments would struggle to undo. Beyond legal changes, she emphasized the everyday realities Palestinians face, including settler violence and restrictions on freedom of movement.
