Hamas said on Sunday that new decisions approved by Israel's security cabinet to expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank are intended to swallow up all Palestinian land and displace its original inhabitants.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement that the settlement-related decisions taken by Israel's government "confirm its colonial program aimed at swallowing all Palestinian land and displacing its original inhabitants," calling the moves a "real existential threat."
Qassem said Israel's far-right government is seeking to expand what he described as a war of annihilation and to eliminate the Palestinian presence across all Palestinian geography.
He added that the developments require practical Palestinian unity and a national response to confront Israel's aggressive policies.
Earlier on Sunday, Israel approved measures that change the legal and civil framework in the occupied West Bank to strengthen Israeli control.
Public broadcaster KAN reported that the decisions include repealing a Jordanian-era law barring the sale of Palestinian land to Jews, unsealing land ownership records, and transferring building permit authority in a Hebron settlement bloc from the Palestinian municipality to Israel's civil administration.
The measures also expand Israeli oversight and enforcement into areas classified as Area A and Area B, citing alleged violations related to unlicensed construction, water issues, and damage to archaeological and environmental sites. The expansion would allow demolitions and seizures of Palestinian property even in areas administered civilly and security-wise by the Palestinian Authority.
Under the 1993 Oslo Accords II, Area A is under full Palestinian civil and security control, Area B is under Palestinian civil control with Israeli security control, and Area C remains under full Israeli control which accounts for about 60% of the West Bank.
Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that part of the cabinet decisions transfer planning and construction authority at the Ibrahimi Mosque and its surroundings, as well as other religious sites, from the Hebron municipality to Israel's Civil Administration, contrary to arrangements under the 1997 Hebron Protocol between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Israeli authorities have continued to demolish Palestinian homes and structures across the West Bank on the grounds of lacking permits, amid what Palestinians say as restrictive policies that make it difficult to obtain building approvals.
According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, a government agency, Israel carried out 538 demolitions in 2025, affecting about 1,400 homes and structures, an unprecedented increase compared with previous years.
The UN says Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are illegal under international law and undermine the viability of a two-state solution and has for decades called for an end to settlement activity.
