Palestinian Authority freezes land records for Arab Israelis after Jericho home sales
A temporary suspension of property transactions followed the purchase of eight homes near Jericho, affecting roughly two million citizens of Israel.
By Nathan Reed ·
Two million Arab citizens of Israel found their property transactions temporarily frozen last week. The Palestinian Land Authority suspended land registration for individuals holding Israeli citizenship or Jerusalem residency. This move followed the purchase of eight homes by Jewish activists near Jericho.
The freeze targeted people living under Israeli control rather than just those in the West Bank. The announcement came from the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank. The suspension has since been lifted, but it marked a shift in how the authority applies its laws to residents of Israel.
Maurice Hirsch, a former lieutenant colonel and director of the Initiative for Palestinian Authority Accountability and Reform, analyzed the decision. He stated that the authority likely believed Arab Israelis helped the Jewish buyers acquire the properties. Hirsch argued that the policy creates a contradiction. The authority treats Arab citizens as Palestinians, yet it now uses their Israeli status to restrict their economic activities.
Hirsch wrote that the restrictions extend consequences beyond Palestinians living under direct authority control. He noted that this is a new dimension of the policy. The authority has long viewed the approximately two million Arab citizens of Israel as Palestinian. This view persists regardless of their military service or self-identification.
Palestinian law treats the sale of land to Israeli Jews as treason. Penalties can include life imprisonment with hard labor or the death penalty. In 2019, a court in Nablus sentenced a man to five years in prison for attempting to sell land to Israeli Jews. Two years earlier, a court in Kalkilya sentenced two men to 15 years of hard labor for transferring West Bank land to Israeli Jews.
The location of the eight homes complicates the authority’s jurisdiction. Jericho is in Area A, where the Palestinian Authority has civil and security control. However, the specific properties are in Area C, which is under full Israeli control. The Oslo Accords exclude Israeli citizens from the authority’s personal jurisdiction. They also limit the authority’s territorial reach in Area C, raising questions about its power to investigate these purchases.
Despite these legal boundaries, the authority has previously attempted to prosecute Arab Israelis. Charges have included alleged roles in land transfers and other crimes. The recent suspension represents one of the first times the authority distinguished property rights based on Israeli citizenship and residency status.
