In a statement, the institution warned that the land was confiscated from citizens of the village of Aqraba, in the northern governorate of Nablus.

It accused the authorities of the neighboring country in “turning (Palestinian) citizens’ land into a growing colonial project.”

The new decision is part of a larger initiative aimed at controlling the eastern sides of the West Bank, specifically those adjacent to the Jordan Valley, by controlling vast areas in that region, it said.

The Committee stated that since the beginning of this year, Israeli officials confiscated some 3,900 hectares of Palestinian land in the West Bank.

Last week, the Israeli cabinet agreed to legalize five colonial outposts, build thousands of housing units in the West Bank and implement more measures against the Palestinian National Authority, which provoked a wave of international criticism.

The Central Bureau of Statistics stated last March that this nation confiscated 50,526 dunums of Palestinian land (just over 5,000 hectares) in 2023, almost twice the previous year’s figure.

According to official figures, more than 250,000 Jewish settlers live in occupied East Jerusalem and another 500,000 in the rest of the West Bank.

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