Israel’s security cabinet has approved changes to land registration and administrative authority in the occupied West Bank, a move Palestinians and regional actors say lowers legal barriers to settlement expansion and formalizes what they describe as de facto annexation of the territory.

The decision issued last Sunday alters long-standing legal arrangements governing land ownership, access to property records and municipal authority in parts of the West Bank that are currently partly or fully administered by the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian officials and international legal experts warn that the measures could accelerate the transfer of land to Israeli settlers and further erode prospects for a two-state solution.

The White House reiterated its opposition to annexation on Monday, yet did not directly address the cabinet decision.

The cabinet decision lifts a decades-old ban on selling land to Israeli Jews in the West Bank, makes land registries publicly accessible to ease acquisitions, shifts control over construction at sensitive sites in Hebron to Israeli authorities, and allows Israel to enforce environmental and archaeological rules in so-called Areas A and B. The plan also reinstates a committee that could enable the state to proactively purchase land, ensuring reserves for settlements for years to come.