HEBRON, October 19, 2026 (WAFA) – The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said Israeli occupation authorities have issued two new declarations designating 182.81 dunums of land in the towns of Battir, Sa'ir, and Ash-Shuyukh, in the Bethlehem and Hebron governorates, as “state land,” in a move that consolidates colonial control over Palestinian land.
According to a statement issued by the commission on Monday evening, the two declarations were signed on October 18, 2026, by the official responsible for government and abandoned property in the Israeli occupation's “Civil Administration.”
The commission said the declarations illustrate how the mechanisms of colonial expansion operate in tandem, as decisions to establish settlements and legalize outposts are followed by measures to reclassify land, delineate areas of influence, and provide infrastructure.
It added that this sequence transforms the physical presence of colonial settlements into more entrenched institutional control and creates land reserves for further expansion at the expense of Palestinian land and its development potential, deepening the fragmentation of Palestinian geography and imposing de facto annexation.
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