Palestinian Rights Organization: Israeli decisions to annex West Bank mark clear shift toward entrenching “De Facto Annexation”
The Palestinian human rights organization Al-Baidar said on Monday that the Israeli government’s approval of a wide-ranging package of decisions reshaping the legal and political landscape in the occupied West Bank, in an unprecedented manner since the signing of the Oslo Accords, reflects a clear shift from administration to the entrenchment of “de facto annexation.”
In a statement, the organization explained that these steps pave the way for a harsher phase of land confiscation and population displacement, according to the Palestinian Shehab News Agency.
It pointed out that these decisions not only undermine what remains of interim agreements, but also effectively erase the dividing lines between “occupation and annexation,” turning them into a single reality in which Palestinian land is managed under the logic of full Israeli sovereignty.
The organization stressed that the danger of these decisions lies not only in their legal or administrative dimensions, but in the fact that they strike at the core of the conflict itself by directly targeting land, people, and Palestinian national identity, particularly in Bedouin communities and vulnerable Palestinian villages.
It added that these measures open the door to a new phase of imposing realities through both force , law, altering geography and demography in ways that threaten deep and lasting changes to the structure of the West Bank, placing Palestinians before existential challenges that go beyond a struggle over authority to a struggle for survival and the right to the land.
Al-Baidar warned that these policies are directly affecting the lives of Palestinians through escalating demolitions, tighter restrictions on housing and construction, and threats to private property, creating an environment that pushes residents to leave, especially in mixed cities and areas of settlement significance.
The organization affirmed that what is required today is the development of a comprehensive national strategy based on unifying the internal position and activating international legal mechanisms, foremost among them the International Criminal Court, to hold the occupation accountable for its crimes.
It also stressed the importance of reviving organized popular resistance and supporting the steadfastness of citizens in areas threatened with demolition and annexation, describing them as the first line of defense against these policies.
It concluded: “Israeli decisions cannot be viewed as temporary steps or a passing escalation; rather, they represent a clear declaration of a transition to a new phase based on imposing sovereignty through both law and force, aimed at bringing about structural , lasting changes in Palestinian geography and demography.”