New report by Adalah on the Israeli settlement enterprise and dual land regime
View of an outpost near the West Bank city of Nablus, 12 May 2025
Adalah introduces its recent report, “Legal Structures of Distinction, Separation, and Territorial Denomination: Israel’s Dual Land Regime in the Occupied West Bank” on 3 July 2025:
The report examines the evolution of Israel’s dual land regime in the West Bank, one system for Israeli Jewish settlers and another for Palestinians, through decades of Israeli law and policy. It details how successive Israeli governments constructed a legal framework aimed at expanding and entrenching settlements, while systematically eroding Palestinians’ land rights. The report lays out how the current extremist Israeli government, in place since December 2022, has built on this foundation to escalate a new phase of annexation, through four core mechanisms.
1. ‘Civilianization’
The ‘civilianization’ of land governance for settlers in Area C has advanced significantly, while Palestinians remain under military rule. The report analyses how Israeli authorities have developed a complex set of legal mechanisms to create two separate land governance systems in Area C. The government further entrenched this dual system in 2023 with the appointment of Minister Smotrich as a second minister within the Defense Ministry, and his “Civilian Deputy” and the establishment of a Settlement Administration, which consolidated authority over land, planning, and enforcement in Area C under civilian oversight for settlers.
2. Dual legal frameworks governing local authorities Israeli settlements in Area C function under de facto Israeli municipal law, allowing them access to services and planning mechanisms designed to expand the settlement enterprise. In contrast, Palestinian villages continue to be governed under Jordanian law and are denied any meaningful planning authority.
3. Declaration and allocation of so-called “state land”
Since the 1980s, Israel has declared vast areas of Palestinian land as state land and has allocated them almost exclusively to settlers. In 2024 alone, more than 24,000 dunams were declared as state land, dispossessing Palestinians.
4. Discriminatory nature of planning and enforcement policies
Israeli settlers benefit from well-developed planning systems and high approval rates for construction. More than 12,700 settlement housing units were approved between 2023 and mid-2025. In contrast, over 95% of building permit applications by Palestinians are routinely denied, and demolitions of Palestinian structures steadily increase.
In a continuation of these trends, on 11 May 2025, the Israeli Cabinet issued a new decision to resume land registration procedures in Area C in the occupied West Bank, which have been frozen since 1968. These procedures are near impossible for Palestinians to comply with, and may result in the massive confiscation of Palestinian land. The land registration process is largely inaccessible to many Palestinians, excluding key groups such as 1967 refugees, Gaza residents with West Bank claims, and non-residents with pre-1967 rights. West Bank Palestinians also face major hurdles, including restrictive Israeli interpretations of Ottoman and Jordanian land laws, and almost insurmountable evidentiary requirements. Adalah is legally challenging this decision, as it represents a significant step in the ongoing process of annexation.
The report also examines financial incentives given by the government to the settlers, the retroactive legalization of illegal outposts, and Israel’s reclassification of settlement neighborhoods to formal settlements, marking a shift from covert expansion to overt annexation.
Israel’s dual land regime in the West Bank constitutes a system of apartheid and de facto annexation. These policies violate international humanitarian law, deny the Palestinian right to self-determination, and amount to international crimes, including the unlawful transfer of population into occupied territory.
This report exposes Israeli policies of land theft, racial segregation, and systemic displacement over decades, with rapid acceleration by the Netanyahu led-radical right-wing government. Adalah calls on the international community to urgently intervene to halt Israel’s escalating settlement expansion and annexation policies in the occupied West Bank, which violate international law, including ICJ advisory opinions and UN resolutions. Adalah urges all relevant actors to take concrete action to stop these measures, protect Palestinians’ rights, and uphold international law.