Israeli security forces have intensified military and administrative actions across Palestinian territories, triggering widespread international condemnation. On Monday, a Palestinian civilian was fatally shot by Israeli troops in Gaza City’s Zaytoun neighborhood, marking another violation of the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. This incident follows Sunday’s lethal engagement in the same area where three Palestinians, including a minor, lost their lives according to medical authorities speaking with Al Jazeera Arabic.
The escalation extends beyond Gaza into systemic policy changes in the West Bank. Israel’s security cabinet ratified sweeping measures on Sunday that substantially expand occupation authority over Palestinian-administered zones. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz jointly announced these developments, which represent the most significant shift in administrative control since the 1967 occupation began.
These newly approved regulations fundamentally undermine the Oslo Accords framework that had granted limited Palestinian self-rule in Areas A and B of the West Bank. The measures impose severe restrictions on Palestinian access to water resources, agricultural activities, residential construction, and business operations. Additionally, they facilitate the transfer of Palestinian land to Jewish settlers by overturning Jordanian-era prohibitions against such transactions.
Minister Smotrich explicitly stated the government’s position: ‘We will continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state.’ The policy changes transfer planning, licensing, and construction authority in Hebron from Palestinian municipal governance to Israeli military control. They also establish an independent governing body for Jewish settlements within Hebron, which the Hebron Municipality condemned as ‘illegitimate and dangerous.’
Further procedural changes remove requirements for Jewish buyers to obtain complex transaction permits before purchasing West Bank land and lift confidentiality protections on land registry records. Palestinian officials warn these changes will accelerate documented practices of land seizure through forged ownership claims.
Palestinian National Council Chairman Rawhi Fattouh characterized the measures as ‘racist and dangerous,’ indicating they reveal Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s intention to annex the West Bank. Muayyad Shaaban, head of the Palestinian Commission Against the Wall and Settlements, described the decisions as undermining international legal order and constituting crimes against Palestinian geography. The Palestinian National Initiative movement stated these actions effectively terminate the Oslo Accords and enable widespread land seizures benefiting Israeli settlers.