Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared on Wednesday that 465 dunums (roughly 115 acres) of Palestinian land in the Sinjil area north of Ramallah have been unilaterally seized and designated as so-called “state land” to expand the illegal outpost of Givat Haroeh.

Smotrich, a far-right extremist known for his open advocacy of annexation and ethnic cleansing, boasted about the land grab on social media, framing the theft as necessary for “strengthening effective Israeli sovereignty on the ground.” He vowed to push forward with more settlement construction while continuing his efforts to crush any possibility of Palestinian statehood.

This latest act of dispossession directly targets Palestinian farmers and landowners in Sinjil, stripping them of vital agricultural land and further fragmenting the territory needed for a viable Palestinian state. Rights groups have long condemned such moves as war crimes under international law, designed to alter the demographic reality of the occupied West Bank through systematic colonization.

The announcement comes as part of a broader surge in settlement activity. In February, the Israeli government approved new procedures to register large swathes of Palestinian land as “state property” — the first such formal policy since the 1967 occupation began — effectively legalizing the plunder of private Palestinian property for the benefit of settlers.

Smotrich claimed the seizure would boost “Israeli security,” a familiar justification used by Israeli officials to mask expansionist policies that have led to the displacement of thousands of Palestinians, the destruction of homes and farmland, and daily violence by armed settler militias often protected by the Israeli army.

Palestinians and human rights advocates view these actions as part of a deliberate strategy of creeping annexation, aimed at making the creation of an independent Palestinian state impossible. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlements in the occupied territories illegal, yet enforcement remains weak while Palestinian land continues to vanish under the bulldozers of occupation.

This move in Sinjil is not an isolated incident but another chapter in Israel’s decades-long campaign to seize Palestinian territory, displace its indigenous population, and entrench a system of apartheid and settler-colonialism across the West Bank. As Palestinian communities face increasing pressure and loss, calls grow louder for accountability and an end to the impunity that allows such land theft to continue unchecked. (ILKHA)