In a new report, Adalah reveals the legal infrastructure underpinning Israel’s efforts to entrench a racialized system of permanent land control in the occupied West Bank, particularly in Area C.
On 22 May 2025, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, published a report examining the evolution of Israel’s dual land regime. 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
CLICK HERE to read the full report.
CLICK HERE to read the Executive Summary.
