Israel Expands Control in West Bank as WHO Warns of Deepening Health Crisis in Occupied Palestinian Territories
Israel Expands Control in West Bank as WHO Warns of Deepening Health Crisis in Occupied Palestinian Territories
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The Israeli government has approved new measures to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property,” a move that coincides with mounting international warnings of a severe humanitarian and health crisis across the occupied Palestinian territories, according to the World Health Organization.
More details in the following report:
On Sunday, the Israeli government approved a proposal to begin registering extensive tracts of land in Area C of the West Bank as state land, marking the first such step since Israel occupied the territory in 1967.
The decision would convert large areas into state land unless private ownership is proven, strengthening Israel’s grip on the territory by formalizing land registration through the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), while preventing the Palestinian Authority from carrying out similar functions.
The move is part of a broader package of measures approved recently by Israel’s Security Cabinet to expand settlement activity, including changes to land sale restrictions and shifts in planning authority. Palestinians view these steps, alongside intensified Israeli military operations since October 2023, as paving the way toward de facto annexation. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion declaring Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and calling for the evacuation of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
At the same time, the World Health Organization has warned of an unprecedented health emergency. In a report presented by Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to the WHO Executive Board, the agency documented 18,004 deaths and more than 160,000 injuries across the occupied Palestinian territories between January and August 2025. More than half of the casualties were children, women, and elderly people.
The report cited widespread shortages of medicines, fuel, and equipment, delays in humanitarian access, hundreds of attacks on healthcare facilities, and a growing burden of infectious diseases linked to displacement and the collapse of water and sanitation systems. Tedros urged an immediate ceasefire, protection of healthcare, and unrestricted humanitarian access to prevent further deterioration of an already dire situation.
