Declarations of State Land in the West Bank

[1] It was and is the principal method used by the governments of Mandatory Palestine and Israel respectively, to acquire land from Palestinians and sell it to Israeli settlers.

[3] There is a complex mix of still-operative, Ottoman, British, Jordanian, Israeli, Palestinian and international law at work in the West Bank.

[4] Land and villages of the West Bank did not have a cadastral survey during the Palestine Mandate.

Objections must be submitted within 45 days and if not, the declaration is considered final and the Custodian may take possession of the land.

[8] A 1979 proceedings known as the "Elon Moreh" case (Dweikat et al. v. Government of Israel) the Israeli Supreme Court ended the use of military orders for the seizure of private Palestinian land for settlements and provided the impetus for Israel to establish a new legal basis for the requisition of land if it was to be used for settlement.