Losing Deir Dibwan: The New Frontier of Israeli Annexation in the West Bank

Israeli soldiers demolish a Palestinian building in Area C, in the occupied West Bank. (Photo: via WAFA)

By Fayha Shalash – Ramallah

A new Israeli policy in Area C may legalize land seizures and finalize de facto annexation of the occupied West Bank.

The town of Deir Dibwan, east of Ramallah, is one of hundreds of Palestinian towns whose land falls largely within what is known as Area C of the occupied West Bank.

Last week, the Israeli cabinet approved the resumption of land ownership registration in Area C. Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said the move “restores prestige to Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria (occupied West Bank – PC) and thwarts the Palestinian Authority’s attempts to seize control of Area C.”

Palestinians and rights groups warn that this measure—and others already implemented on the ground—effectively serve Israel’s long-standing plan to annex Area C. The Israeli government has made no secret of its intention to formalize this annexation by the end of the year.

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The process of land registration in the West Bank began under Jordanian rule but was suspended following Israel’s occupation in 1967. Under the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority was allowed to register land only in Areas A and B, while Area C—which comprises about 61% of the West Bank—remained under full Israeli control.

Now, the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli military body that governs the West Bank, will oversee land registration in Area C.

For Palestinians, this means another step toward dispossession. Proving land ownership is already difficult, but under the new policy, only land with officially registered title deeds will be recognized. Any land not formally registered will be considered unowned—and thus subject to Israeli seizure.

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‘We Have No Land Left’

Deir Dibwan is known for its picturesque landscape of fertile plains and mountain ranges, but settlers have identified the area as strategic and are moving to take it over.

Imad Musleh, the town’s mayor, told us that Deir Dibwan spans 75,000 dunams—80% of which lies in Area C. That land is now at immediate risk.

“Even though villagers hold official documents proving ownership,” Musleh said, “we are still deeply concerned because of the relentless actions by Israel and settler groups over the past two years.”

He explained that in April 2023, months before the war on Gaza began, Israel issued an order to seize large portions of Area C land used by locals for farming and grazing. Villagers filed objections in Israeli courts, but to no avail.

The town is a hub of livestock and dairy production in the West Bank. But with grazing land confiscated, farmers have been forced to keep their herds near their homes in small, crowded areas.

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Settlers have also escalated efforts to take over the land by sending their own livestock to graze on it, effectively claiming ownership through usage.

“They’re getting closer every day,” Musleh said. “They’re grazing their cows just meters from our homes—sending a clear message that the land belongs to them. And much of it is actually in Area B.”

Whenever residents try to access their land, settlers show up in groups and physically attack them. “The situation is catastrophic,” Musleh said, “even before any official annexation takes place.”

He added that the town is now encircled by a ring of settlements and pastoral outposts to the north, west, and south, while the remaining land is cut off by a settlement road.

“They’ve confined us to our homes,” he said. “We have no land left.”

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A Dangerous Manipulation

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich hailed the cabinet’s decision as a de facto annexation of the West Bank.

“This is part of the normalization and sovereignty revolution we’re leading in Judea and Samaria (occupied West Bank – PC),” Smotrich said. “For the first time, Israel is taking full responsibility for the region and launching a campaign to settle the land. This will allow the development of settlements and eliminate the threat of a Palestinian terrorist state.”

But experts say the move is a legal and political charade designed to bypass international law and the Oslo Accords.

Jamal al-Amleh, director of the Land Research Center, told us that land registration under international law must be conducted for and by legal landowners, not by an occupying power on behalf of its own citizens.

Area C, he emphasized, is part of the occupied territories under international law and cannot be unilaterally registered as Israeli territory.

“This is the first time Israel has formally announced such a step,” he said, “but they’ve already been registering Palestinian land in the names of settlers behind the scenes.”

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Soon after the 1967 occupation, Israel froze the Jordanian Land Settlement Law of 1964. At the time, only about 30% of West Bank land had been officially registered, mostly in the north.

“Israel then began reclassifying Palestinian lands as either ‘state land’ or ‘absentee property,’ which it could then lease to settlers to build settlements or farms,” al-Amleh explained. “This is illegal under international law.”

The new policy aims to formalize that process. Under it, a settler who has leased ‘state land’ from the Israeli military administration in Beit El could now demand that it be permanently registered as their private property.

“This is a dangerous manipulation of land ownership,” al-Amleh warned. “It overrides international law and gives settlers private property rights under a government that is more extremist than any we’ve seen before. This will create a massive disruption in the legal and political reality of the West Bank.”

(The Palestine Chronicle)

– Fayha’ Shalash is a Ramallah-based Palestinian journalist. She graduated from Birzeit University in 2008 and she has been working as a reporter and broadcaster ever since. Her articles appeared in several online publications. She contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.

1 Comment

  1. Just as in zionist-israel’s claim to a ” security zone ” in South Lebanon — a zone israel was Forced to give up, … the day is coming and sooner than all pundits think when israel will be evacuating All of the West Bank, Gaza, and Al Quds. That, or else there will be One State from the border of Jordan to the border of Egypt, which will rapidly have a Palestinian majority with a jewish minority. Neither netanyahu’s hunta not trump’s usa can prevent it… no more than they could prevent the fall of white apartheid South Africa though they tried in every way to halt it. The entire World is standing with Palestine… zionist israel is in its final death-struggle.

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