A left-wing Israeli rights group, Peace Now, has warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pursuing a "dangerous and irresponsible" policy of dismantling the Palestinian Authority and imposing de facto annexation of the West Bank, rather than fulfilling his commitments regarding the Gaza war.
Peace Now issued a statement hours after Israel's Security Cabinet on Sunday approved measures that aimed to change the legal and civil framework in the occupied West Bank to strengthen Israeli control.
Israel's public broadcaster KAN reported that the decisions include repealing a law barring the sale of Palestinian land to Jews in the West Bank, 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.
Peace Now said in a statement: "Netanyahu promised to topple Hamas in Gaza, but in practice he chose to topple the Palestinian Authority, cancel agreements that Israel signed, and impose de facto annexation on us -- completely against the will of the public, Israel's interests, and the clear position of President Trump."
"This is an extreme and irresponsible government dragging us toward disaster," it added, calling on "all democratic forces in Israel" to act now "in every possible way" to halt it.
The group warned that these steps would lead to dangerous escalation, growing international isolation, and the undermining of any future political horizon.
It accused Netanyahu of using the Security Cabinet to pass decisions away from oversight and transparency.
Israel has intensified its military operations in the West Bank since launching its war on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 8, 2023, including killings, arrests, forced displacement, and settlement expansion, a trajectory Palestinians say is aimed at paving the way for the formal annexation of the occupied territory.
At least 1,112 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, about 11,500 wounded, and more than 21,000 detained during that period, according to Palestinian estimates.
The International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal in a landmark opinion in July 2024 and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
