Israel approves state’s illegal land seizure

About 150 hectares taken north of Almog settlement

JERUSALEM // Israel has approved the illegal expropriation of 150 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank near Jericho.

Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now said it was Israel’s largest land expropriation in the West Bank since 2014, when the government declared about 400 hectares of the Palestinian territory as state land.

“This is another step on the way to destroy the possibility for a two-state solution,” Peace Now said.

Cogat, the defence ministry unit that handles civilian affairs in the West Bank, said the land decision was made by senior Israeli leaders and was in the final stages of implementation.

The agency did not provide further details, including who was considered the current owner, but Peace Now said that the land had been taken over by Israeli settlers years ago for farming.

Israeli media said the land was north of the Israeli settlement of Almog. Land seizures have been harshly criticised by Palestinians and much of the international community. Such moves erode the territory Palestinians see as part of their future state, further complicating peace efforts.

“Continued land confiscation by [ Benjamin] Netanyahu’s government is a diplomatic catastrophe,” Peace Now said. Defence minister Moshe Yaalon’s office declined to comment.