The law passed by the Knesset today proves yet again that Israel has no intention of ending its control over the Palestinians or its theft of their land. Lending a semblance of legality to this ongoing act of plunder is a disgrace for the state and its legislature. Passing the bill mere weeks after UN Security Council Resolution 2334 is a slap in the face of the international community. While enshrining the dispossession in law is a new development, in practice it is another facet of the massive land grab carried out openly for decades by declaring "state land".

On 15 Jan. 2017, the Civil Administration began uprooting olive trees and levelling land near the Palestinian villages of ‘Azzun and a-Nabi Elyas in Qalqilya District, as part of a plan to build a bypass road to replace a section of Route 55 that runs through the villages. To that end, the authorities have expropriated 10.4 hectares of land from ‘Azzun and uprooted some 1,000 olive trees. Declarations that this will serve “the public interest” are belied by Israel’s policy of using Area C for its citizens only, illustrated by similar cases.

Gaza’s fishing sector, which provided work for 10,000 people in 2000, has drastically declined due to Israel’s harsh restrictions on marine access, selling catch in the West Bank and Israel, and raw material imports. Only about 4,000 fishermen are now registered in Gaza, with half out of work as their boats cannot be repaired. The Israeli navy shoots at fishermen, arrests them, and confiscates their boats. This unjustified harm illustrates how Israel continues to control many aspects of life in Gaza from afar, as part of its 10-year blockade.

On 18 Dec. 2016, at about 12:30 A.M., security forces shot and killed Ahmad Hazem ‘Ata Zidani (a-Rimawi), 17, and injured N.R., 25, during a raid in the village of Beit Rima, northwest of Ramallah. CCTV footage and B'Tselem’s investigation clearly show that they were not endangering the forces when they were shot. Israeli forces are currently entering the village once or twice a week. Such raids are commonplace in the West Bank, leading to frequent clashes and in some cases to the unjustified loss of Palestinian life.

The report B’Tselem published today shows how Israel has been taking over Palestinian rural space, fragmenting it, dispossessing its residents of land and water, and handing over these areas to settlers. The process is illustrated through a case study of three villages in the Nablus District - ‘Azmut, Deir al-Hatab and Salem - telling what these communities have undergone since Israel established the Elon Moreh settlement nearby. Through this case study, the report illustrates a broader policy Israel has been implementing throughout the West Bank for decades, and in which the settlers play a key role.