• Palestinian leader demands ‘firm response’ from US over international law violation
• Berlin joins criticism, calling move a step towards ‘de facto annexation’

GENEVA: The United Nations human rights chief said on Wednesday that Israel’s plans to tighten control over the occupied West Bank pave the way for further settlement expansion and represent a step toward consolidating “illegal annexation”.

Israel’s security cabinet on Sunday approved measures allowing Jewish Israelis to buy West Bank land directly and extending greater Israeli control over areas where the Palestinian Authority exercises power.

The plan further grants Israel the authority to administer certain religious sites located in areas under Palestinian Authority control. The plans, which have sparked international outrage, modify the administration established under the Oslo Accords in the 1990s.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said the decisions by Israel’s security cabinet were the latest in a string of measures to annex Palestinian lands.

“This is yet another step by the Israeli authorities towards rendering a viable Palestinian state impossible, in violation of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination,” Turk said in a statement.

“If these decisions are implemented, they will undoubtedly accelerate the dispossession of Palestinians and their forcible transfer, and lead to the creation of more illegal Israeli settlements.”

Turk noted that these measures would further deprive Palestinians of natural resources and restrict their human rights. He stated the moves will “further cement Israel’s control and integration of the occupied West Bank into Israel, consolidating unlawful annexation”.

The UN official warned that these policies are part of a wider context of increasing attacks by Israeli settlers and security forces, alongside a pattern of evictions, home demolitions, and land grabs.

“We are witnessing rapid steps to change permanently the demography of the occupied Palestinian territory, stripping its people of their lands and forcing them to leave,” Turk said. “These decisions must be overturned.”

Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called for a “firm response” from the United States and the international community. Speaking during a visit to Oslo on Wednesday, Abbas said he discussed the issue with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

“These serious violations require a firm response from the US administration and the international community because they hinder President Donald Trump’s efforts and constitute a violation of international law,” Abbas said.

Abbas also cited issues including Israeli settler violence and Israel’s freezing of funds intended for the Palestinian people.

Germany joined the chorus of criticism on Wednesday, with the foreign ministry calling the move “a further step towards de facto annexation.”

“Israel remains an occupying power in the West Bank, and as an occupying power it is a violation of international law to build settlements, including transferring certain administrative functions to civilian Israeli authorities,” a German foreign ministry spokesman said in Berlin.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2026