Israel announces largest West Bank land appropriation since Oslo Accords
The Civil Administration, which manages civilian affairs in the West Bank, has declared 2,965 acres of land in the Jordan Valley region to be state land, meaning it is fit for future development.
According to the Peace Now organization, which campaigns against the West Bank settlements, this is the largest designation of state land since the Oslo Accords in 1993, and follows other large designations of state land including 1,976 acres also in the Jordan Valley in March, 650 acres east of Jerusalem in February, and 42 acres in the Etzion Bloc.
The new declaration involves land some 50 kilometers north of Jericho, immediately adjacent to the 1,976 acres of state land designated in March.
The designation was issued on June 25 but only published today.
The amount of land declared to be state land in 2024, some 5,852 acres as of July, far outstrips any other year this century. The highest previous total was 1,181 acres in 2014. [Continue reading…]