Israeli occupation authorities have designated 182.81 dunums of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank as “state land,” in a move Palestinian officials say will entrench the occupation, accelerate colonial settlement expansion and further dispossess Palestinians of their land.

The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said Monday that two new declarations cover land in Battir, in the Bethlehem governorate, and Sa'ir and Ash-Shuyukh, in the Hebron governorate.

According to the commission, the declarations were signed on October 18, 2026, by the official responsible for government and abandoned property within Israel’s Civil Administration, the occupation authority overseeing civil affairs in the occupied West Bank.

The commission condemned the measures as part of a systematic policy aimed at consolidating Israeli control over Palestinian territory and paving the way for further settlement expansion at the expense of Palestinian communities.

It said the declarations demonstrate how settlement construction and the legalization of outposts are accompanied by administrative and legal measures to reclassify Palestinian land, redraw areas of control and provide infrastructure for expanding settlements.

The commission warned that these measures turn the presence of Israeli settlements into deeper institutional control, creating land reserves for future expansion while depriving Palestinians of land and undermining their ability to develop their communities.

It added that the policies further fragment Palestinian geography, isolate communities and impose new realities on the ground in pursuit of what it described as de facto annexation.

The latest declarations add to Palestinian concerns over the continued loss of land in the occupied West Bank, where settlement expansion and land reclassification have intensified tensions over the future of Palestinian territory. (ILKHA)