As Israeli occupation forces escalated their military assault on the occupied West Bank, the Knesset’s security cabinet on Wednesday approved a draft law that would allow Israeli settlers to purchase Palestinian land directly—a move widely condemned by Palestinians and international rights groups as a step toward de jure annexation.
The bill, passed without opposition, would scrap longstanding restrictions that prevent non-residents—specifically Israeli Jews—from acquiring land in the West Bank without prior military approval. The legislation is designed to expand the settler-colonial project and dismantle existing legal barriers to land expropriation.
Knesset spokespersons confirmed that four committee members voted in favor of the bill. The legislation refers to the occupied Palestinian territory as “Judea and Samaria,” echoing the Israeli government’s biblical terminology, and aims to repeal so-called “discriminatory” clauses in real estate regulations.
Hamas denounced the bill as a “new crime that violates the legal status of the West Bank as occupied territory.” In a statement issued via Telegram, the movement accused Israel’s government of using military aggression to impose new facts on the ground and entrench its settlement enterprise.
“All occupation measures aimed at Judaizing the West Bank and Jerusalem are illegitimate and will not erase the Palestinian identity of this land,” Hamas said, calling on the Arab League, the United Nations, and their institutions to take immediate and decisive action against what it called Israel’s “blatant violations” of international law.
The legislative push coincided with a fresh military offensive in the northern West Bank. The Israeli army announced the launch of a large-scale operation codenamed “Five Stones,” targeting five areas in Tubas governorate: the city of Tubas, Tayasir, Aqaba, Tamun, and the Al-Fara’a refugee camp.
Occupation forces claimed the campaign aims to dismantle alleged armed infrastructure. It began with airstrikes intended to isolate the area, followed by ground raids involving home invasions, arrests, and the seizure of surveillance equipment and funds. It followed by sealing off the area.
Medical teams from the Palestinian Red Crescent in Tubas said they treated 25 people injured by Israeli soldiers, many of them beaten during raids. Red Crescent director Nidal Odeh confirmed that some were detained, interrogated, and then released.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, Israeli forces have detained around 60 people since the beginning of this operation—the most extensive sweep in the region in months.
The group reported a dramatic surge in arbitrary arrests across Tubas, Jenin, and Tulkarm throughout 2025, with more than 330 Palestinians detained from Tubas alone.
The land bill aligns with a broader series of legislative and military steps aimed at consolidating Israeli control over the West Bank. In July, the Knesset passed a motion declaring that the West Bank and Jordan Valley are “an inseparable part of the Jewish people’s historical homeland,” laying the legal groundwork for annexation.
In October, the motion passed into an approved bill with 25–24 votes in favor in the Knesset.
In September, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar reiterated Tel Aviv’s intent to impose sovereignty over the West Bank, attacking the Palestinian Authority as unfit for statehood and accusing it of fostering resistance. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a key figure in the settler movement, has advocated applying Israeli civil law to 82% of the West Bank, leaving just 18% for Palestinians.
The proposed land law follows repeated declarations by Israeli leaders framing 2025 as “the year of sovereignty” over the West Bank—a campaign slogan for the sustained Israeli political doctrine promoted by Smotrich and echoed across legislative blocs.
Meanwhile, in the United States, more than 40 Democratic senators, led by Adam Schiff, recently urged President Donald Trump to take a stronger stance against Israel’s annexation plans—appeals that have thus far gone unanswered.
Earlier this year, Republican lawmakers introduced a bill in the US House to eliminate the term “West Bank” from all federal documents and replace it with “Judea and Samaria,” a linguistic shift intended to normalize Israel’s territorial claims.
