An Israeli army soldier takes position during a multi-day Israeli raid in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, on January 19, 2026. Photo Mussa QAWASMA/Reuters An Israeli army soldier takes position during an Israeli multi-day raid in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 19, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
The new Israeli measures for the West Bank, announced this weekend and condemned internationally, risk accelerating the annexation of the occupied territory, facilitating land purchases by settlers, and pushing the Palestinian population into urban enclaves, according to analysts.
The full text has not been made public, but some of the measures have been published in official statements. Here are the main expected effects of these measures, whose exact effective date is unknown, but which do not require approval from any other body.
Land sales to settlers made easier
The new measures make it easier for Israeli settlers to buy land, particularly by repealing a decades-old law that prevented Jews from purchasing land directly in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967.
Until now, Israeli settlers bought their land through companies. With the new rules, Israelis or intermediary companies will no longer need a special state permit to acquire land. "It's a historic day for settlement in Judea and Samaria," said Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right figure and settler himself, using the biblical name for the West Bank. "This will allow Jews to buy land in Judea and Samaria exactly as they do in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem."
More than 500,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank among three million Palestinians, in settlements considered illegal under international law. Under the current government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the number of approved settlements has surged, with a record 52 in 2025, according to the Israeli anti-settlement NGO Peace Now.
Members of the government coalition, such as Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, have for years advocated the annexation of the West Bank. "Smotrich, Ben Gvir and the others have been telling us for a long time that this is their policy," Palestinian political analyst Ali Jarbawi told AFP. "Now, it has become reality."
Risk of Palestinian enclaves
These measures will also reinforce Israel's control in certain parts of the West Bank where the Palestinian Authority, based in Ramallah, exerts authority.
Under the Oslo Accords, the West Bank is divided into Areas A, B and C — under Palestinian, joint, and Israeli control, respectively. According to a government statement, the new measures will extend Israeli authority over these areas to combat "offenses related to water, damage to archaeological sites, and environmental nuisances polluting the entire region."
For Fathi Nimer, an expert at the Palestinian think tank Al-Shakaba, this "terribly vague" statement could be used as grounds to displace Palestinians. "What they want is to push Palestinians into small pieces of land, basically into the large cities, into enclaves," agrees Jarbawi. "Israel is advancing annexation; it's something we've been observing for three years, but what is also significant in this case is that Israel has also decided to weaken the Palestinian Authority," notes Yonatan Mizrachi of Peace Now.
Control of religious sites
The new measures also allow Israel to administer two major religious sites in the southern West Bank: the Cave of the Patriarchs, a holy site for all three monotheistic faiths in Hebron, and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem.
Hebron, the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank, where Israeli settlers live under Israeli military cover, will see its municipal regulations changed. Authority over building permits in certain parts of the city, especially around the Palestinian Ibrahimi Mosque, will be transferred to COGAT, the Defense Ministry body that controls every facet of civilian life in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Asma al-Sharbati, the deputy mayor of Hebron, denounced the measure as "dangerous," saying it enables "the extremely rapid expansion of settlement outposts in Hebron." Likewise, Rachel's Tomb, currently under the control of the Bethlehem municipality, will fall under a new Israeli administration created for this purpose.
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