PLO official slams Israel’s approval of measures aimed at deepening control over West Bank

By Saber Ghanem Ibrahım Eıd and Omer Erdem

JERUSALEM (AA) - A senior official of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) condemned measures approved by Israel’s security cabinet Sunday to expand Israeli oversight and control over parts of the occupied West Bank under the Palestinian Authority’s administration, calling them “racist and dangerous.”

In a statement, Rawhi Fattouh, chairman of the Palestinian National Council, the legislative body of the PLO, said the measures reflect the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s continued plans to annex the West Bank and to impose new “colonial realities” on the ground ahead of upcoming elections.

Fattouh said the decisions amount to a clear violation of international law and deliberately undermine existing agreements, including the 1997 Hebron Protocol.

He described the measures as an unprecedented escalation in Israel’s “colonial liquidation policy,” arguing that they constitute a direct attack on the historical and legal rights of the Palestinian people.

He also warned that transferring licensing and construction authority in the southern West Bank city of Hebron from the Palestinian municipality to Israel’s military-run civil administration represents a dangerous step toward de facto annexation.

Calling on the international community to act, Fattouh urged immediate steps to halt Israeli violations and to ensure accountability.

Earlier Sunday, Israel’s security cabinet approved measures that change the legal and civil framework in the occupied West Bank to strengthen Israeli control.

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported that the decisions include repealing a law barring the sale of Palestinian land to Jews in the West Bank, unsealing land ownership records, and transferring building permit authority in a Hebron settlement bloc from the Palestinian municipality to Israel’s civil administration.

The measures also expand Israeli oversight and enforcement into areas classified as Area A and Area B, citing alleged violations related to unlicensed construction, water issues, and damage to archaeological and environmental sites. The expansion would allow demolitions and seizures of Palestinian property even in areas administered civilly and security-wise by the Palestinian Authority.

Under the 1995 Oslo II Accord, Area A is under full Palestinian civil and security control, Area B is under Palestinian civil control with Israeli security control, and Area C remains under full Israeli control, which accounts for about 60% of the West Bank.

Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported that the cabinet’s decisions included the transfer of planning and construction authority at the Ibrahimi Mosque and its surroundings as well as other religious sites from the Hebron municipality to Israel’s civil administration, contrary to arrangements under the 1997 Hebron Protocol between Israel and the PLO.

Israeli authorities have continued to demolish Palestinian homes and structures across the West Bank on the grounds of lacking permits amid what Palestinians describe as restrictive policies that make it difficult to obtain building approvals.

According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, a Palestinian governmental agency, Israel carried out 538 demolitions in 2025 affecting about 1,400 homes and structures, an unprecedented increase compared with previous years.

The UN says Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are illegal under international law and undermine the viability of a two-state solution and has for decades called for an end to settlement activity.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan