The quiet conquest of the West Bank and the death of the Oslo Accords
An Israeli flag flies over an Israeli settlement in the old city in Hebron, 9 February 2026
Mariam Barghouti writes in Al Jazeera on 19 February 2026:
Israel always had a plan to annex more land in the occupied West Bank, and its actions prove it.
This week, the Israeli cabinet approved a plan to claim Palestinian lands in the West Bank as “state land”. The proposal, pushed by far-right Israeli leaders, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Defence Minister Israel Katz, emphasises Israeli supremacy over Palestinians.
The Israeli government has created 35 new positions and allocated 244.1 million shekels (nearly $79m) for the land registration project from 2026 to 2030.
The process outlined in the proposal is not new in itself. It is a process that has been frozen since 1967, and the most recent resumption is a continuation of Israel’s longstanding plan to take over Palestinian lands. While Israel suspended the land registration process in 1967, it did not suspend its practices of ethnic cleansing, colonial violence and de facto land annexation.
For Palestinians, this decision does not mark a new escalation but a solidification of the Israeli presence in the West Bank. While it may seem like mere paperwork, it is actually a milestone in Israel’s gradual takeover of the West Bank, the last remaining territorial obstacle to the completion of Israel’s colonial project in Palestine.
Bureaucracy as annexation
This shift cannot be understood without revisiting the Oslo Accords. Under the 1993 and 1995 agreements, the West Bank was carved into Areas A, B and C as an “interim” arrangement that was never meant to become permanent. Area C, the largest area containing the most land and resources, remained under full Israeli control while Areas A and B were left as fragmented Palestinian islands with limited Palestinian authority.
That made Area C the real battlefield.
As part of the new policy, land registration in Area C, which constitutes more than 62 percent of the West Bank, is to take place through the Land Title Settlement Administration, part of Israel’s Ministry of Justice. What this in effect does is shift Area C from military administration into direct Israeli civilian governance. These measures should not be taken lightly. They are telling of Israel’s latest annexation strategy: governance.
On February 8, a week before the Israeli cabinet’s approval to register West Bank lands as state land, Israeli authorities adopted new measures that open land purchase mechanisms for settlers while reducing oversight. That same day, Israeli authorities also moved to further erode Palestinian Authority powers in Areas A and B, which under international agreements signed by Israel should be under full administrative Palestinian control.
Taken together, these measures mark a new phase of Zionist territorial conquest in the 21st century – one that relies less on overt warfare and more on administrative consolidation.
In 1948, Zionist militias pursued territorial conquest through large-scale warfare, mass displacement and the redrawing of borders. Today, conquest increasingly operates through clerical mechanisms.
It is not accidental that a minister as vocally racist as Smotrich explained the plan as an attempt to end “current chaos that is bad for everyone – Jews and Arabs alike”. While Israel’s goal of taking over Palestinian lands has remained unchanged, the post-Oslo era and the reputational damage Israel has sustained during its genocidal war on Gaza mean that visible and large-scale violence is not sustainable for long-term achievements in the West Bank.
So rather than tanks, bombs and dramatic declarations of territorial conquest, Israel is lowering both regional and international alarm by consolidating land through perceived bureaucracy.