Massive State Land Grab in Jordan Valley Rocks West Bank
In a sweeping land declaration on June 25, 2024, Israeli authorities seized a whopping 12,700 dunams (around 3,140 acres) of land in the Jordan Valley, declaring it state property. This latest move adds to recent land grabs earlier this year, including 2,640 dunams near Ma’ale Adumim and Keidar in February, plus a hefty 8,000 dunams declared in March in nearby areas. Even 170 dunams close to the historic Herodium are now under state control.
The Largest Land Confiscation Since Oslo Accords
This marks the biggest chunk of land declared as state-owned since the landmark Oslo Accords. Altogether, Israel has claimed a staggering 23,700 dunams in the West Bank as state land just in 2024. The move is shaking up the ground realities and escalating tensions in the volatile region.
Outcry From Peace Advocates: “Settler Interests Over Peace”
Peace Now, the Israeli NGO pushing for a two-state solution, slammed the announcement. The group blasted Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister Smotrich for prioritising settler expansion over peace efforts. They insist a political deal to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel remains the only path to end the conflict and stop the ongoing violence.
“This is a blatant signal that the government is backing settlements at the expense of a peaceful future,” warned Peace Now.
New Power Player Behind The Land Grab
The declaration, published publicly a week after being signed, is the first under Hillel Roth, the new Civilian Deputy appointed by Minister Smotrich. Roth now controls most powers once held by the head of the Civil Administration, giving him free rein to push settlement policies.
Behind the scenes, the Settlement Administration’s legal team managed the complex bureaucratic and legal work, with unusual legal advice coming from the Ministry of Defense lawyers instead of the Civil Administration’s army legal advisors.
Strategic Shift With More Land to Follow
Minister Smotrich hailed the move as a “game changer” for the region’s map. He promised another 10,000 to 15,000 dunams would be declared state land by year’s end. The move affects areas once labelled as nature reserves and military fire zones but were considered privately owned by Palestinians—who now can no longer access the land.
Exclusive leasing rights are given only to Israeli settlers, carving out continuous territorial links between Jordan Valley settlements like Yifit and Masu’a, and mountain settlements such as Gitit and Ma’ale Efraim.
Land Confiscations: A Long-Running Flashpoint
This is not new territory. In the 1980s, Israel declared hundreds of thousands of dunams as state land. After a pause during Rabin’s government in 1992, Netanyahu’s first tenure revived the practice in 1998. Since then, land declarations have fuelled deep divisions and become a controversial hotbed of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
