Middle East

Israel Moves to Assert Ownership Rights in West Bank, Sideline Palestinian Authority

A Palestinian man walks past a fence decorated with Israeli flags installed by Jewish settlers, in the northern Israeli-occupied West Bank on Feb. 15.

Photographer: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images

With Gaza stuck in post-war limbo, Israel is pursuing West Bank administrative measures meant to assert ownership over land and further sideline Palestinian authorities.

The Israeli edicts are cast by their far-right sponsors in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as the most sweeping since the West Bank was captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.