Inside a partially damaged office at the Gaza Land Authority headquarters, adviser Imad Al-Baz continues his work amid the ruins. Alongside a small team, he is documenting cases of land encroachment.
Imad explained that encroachment on both public and private land has increased significantly since the widespread destruction across the Gaza Strip began in October 2023.
The situation has been further aggravated after the Israeli army targeted law enforcement agencies, and influential families seized control of multiple properties, renting or managing them without the owners' permission.
“It has become a phenomenon,” Imad said. “The collapse of law enforcement, caused by Israeli targeting of civilian infrastructure, turned government lands into easy spoils for lawbreakers.”
He added that the full scale of the issue is still unclear. Large areas were flooded with displaced people after homes were destroyed, while monitoring systems have been severely disrupted.
Even so, repeated patterns of looting and exploitation have emerged. These include the construction of makeshift ‘commercial barracks’ — tin structures built on public land and rented at high prices to displaced families.
In some cases, individuals have rented out land belonging to the state or to displaced people without the owners’ knowledge.
“We support housing the displaced on government land,” Imad said. “But some unscrupulous individuals have exploited the situation by trading and renting these lands.”
In response, the Land Authority has issued notices urging those who have paid to use government land to come forward and file complaints. Imad described this as a belated attempt to contain what he called a “parallel land market.”
Investigations suggest the problem is no longer confined to public land. Private property has also been affected, with the Rights Equality Centre recording 30 cases of private property violations since the Gaza ceasefire, most of which remain unresolved.
Further signs of concern are reflected in a rise in legal activity. In the first month of this year alone, Gazans filed 150 ownership verification requests and carried out 15 property transfer transactions, according to Land Authority data — moves that signal efforts to protect properties from various encroachments.
Imposing control
For many, the impact is immediate and felt in their daily lives.
Shadi Al-Masri, 30, said he rented a small stall near Al-Nasr roundabout in central Gaza to sell cigarettes, paying 600 shekels a month to a member of an influential family. The rent soon rose beyond what he could afford.
A similar experience followed when he rented space on a sidewalk in western Khan Younis.
In both cases, he said, the landlord did not own the land. One location was a pavement, the other part of a public street setback.
Across areas such as Khan Younis and Rafah, influential families are reported to have taken control of key streets, public land, and even private property. These areas are often fenced off, and anyone wishing to use them must negotiate directly with those in control.
Husni Muhanna, a spokesperson for the Gaza municipality, said this presents a major challenge.
“Some people have occupied municipal areas and rented them to others,” he said. “Given the humanitarian situation, we try to resolve matters amicably, especially in the absence of a functioning police force.”
As part of mitigation efforts, the municipality has entrusted certain markets to a contractor responsible for managing the situation, balancing personal and public interests, and preventing influential parties from seizing municipal property.
Renting absentee property
The issue is particularly severe for those displaced from Gaza.
At the start of the genocide, Abu Helmi Hammad, 50, left with his family, allowing displaced people to use his agricultural land in Al-Nuseirat free of charge.
Eighteen months later, he discovered the land had been turned into what he described as a “commercial project," run by the guard of a neighbouring plot. He said he was shocked to receive a rent demand.
“My phone number was written on the wall, but no one contacted me until the rent became high,” he said. “The man claimed to be my agent.”
Abu Helmi said he is unable to intervene because the guard belongs to a powerful family that operates within a network that rents out absentee-owned land without permission.
Legal adviser Abdel-Mu’ati Mabrouk said such cases are increasingly common.
Since reopening his office, he has found that property owned by people living abroad is particularly vulnerable. In one case, he worked to reclaim a house in Tel Al-Hawa after the original tenant was killed during the genocide.
“When my client sent someone to take possession, they found the tenant’s heirs claiming the house had been sold to them,” he said. “They said payments had been made before the owner’s death, but there was no legal documentation.”
The claimants later said the documents were stored in a bank vault that had been looted during the genocide.
Abdel-Mu’ati said this forced him into a legal and tribal dispute that lasted several months, and he was unable to refute the claim until the genocide temporarily ended in January 2025. In the end, he reached a tribal agreement with the offenders.
Rola Moussa, from the Equality Centre, said the issue goes beyond influential families.
“Some individuals exploit links to government bodies or organisations,” she said. “Others impose control through networks that deny owners access to their property.”
Fraud and exploitation
Bilal Suleiman’s experience reflects the vulnerability of displaced families.
On the second day of the genocide, he fled Khuza’a, a town in the Khan Yunis Governorate, with his family and was offered land west of Khan Younis where they could stay for free. A month later, a man claimed ownership and demanded 8,500 shekels in monthly rent.
After months of payments, the residents discovered that the land was, in fact, government-owned. Around 35 families had been affected.
“When we paid less than demanded, he threatened to record the remainder as debt,” Bilal said.
“He told us we could not even take our tent roof if we left without paying.”
Bilal filed complaints with the Nasser Hospital police station and the Land Authority. The New Arab reviewed one complaint, which stated: "The respondents [names withheld] exploited our urgent need for shelter, charging 275 shekels ($89) per tent each month.”
A growing threat
Rola noted that property sales remain rare because the process is complex in a close-knit community where people generally know one another.
Contracts are typically formalised through lawyers, and buyers require proof of ownership, which adds further complications.
The growing scale of the problem is a concern for Mukhtar Jihad Saleh Abu Hashem and his colleagues at the Supreme Tribal Affairs Authority on Al-Jalaa Street in Gaza, where cases are handled through ‘mediation’.
He said disputes involving absentee-owned property are particularly difficult. “These are the most challenging cases, given the absence of the complainant, but we work through legal proxies to resolve them,” he explained.
He added that the most serious cases involve properties being seized and sold to multiple buyers. “A committee is tasked with identifying the original owner and confirming their rights to restore ownership,” he said.
Describing the scale of the issue, Mukhtar said the number of cases remains high. “The phenomenon is widespread. Every day we handle between six and seven cases — some are resolved immediately, while others are postponed. Some should be referred to the public prosecution, but that is difficult under the current circumstances.”
He added that, in many instances, cases are referred to them by the police. “The police send these cases to us for amicable resolution, as there is currently no enforcement authority or legal mechanism to compel compliance.”
Armed control and land seizure
According to Colonel Mohammed Al-Zarqa, spokesperson for the Palestinian Police in Gaza, influential groups have taken advantage of the situation.
“While some parties exploit private and government property, the Israeli occupation has authorised criminal groups to control land, preventing citizens from accessing their property beyond the ‘yellow line’, which covers large areas of Gaza under the control of occupation forces and affiliated militias, including those led by Yasser Abu Shabab,” he said.
That being said, Land Authority data show that, two years into the genocide, more than half of Gaza’s roughly 365 square kilometres of public and private land has been seized, including about 90 square kilometres of privately owned property taken by the occupation and its allies.
In effect, this means that roughly half of privately owned land is now under their control, along with more than half of state-owned land, estimated at 54.5 percent.
Although the precise extent of land controlled by these groups cannot be fully measured, Amal Shuqri, a Land Authority media official who was interviewed by The New Arab before she was killed in an Israeli airstrike, outlined key areas of influence.
“The Al-Dahniya and Al-Biyuk areas in Rafah governorate serve as a main base for these forces,” she said. “They are also active in eastern Khan Younis and in northern Gaza, where they control land that includes both state and private property.”
According to the Land Authority, its lands are divided into three categories: areas formerly occupied by Israeli settlements and evacuated in 2005; state-registered land dating back to the Ottoman and British Mandate periods; and waqf land designated for religious or charitable purposes.
However, the genocide severely limited the Authority’s ability to respond to encroachments for nearly two years, although officials say work resumed in January this year.
Attempts to restore control
As authorities begin to reassert control following the ceasefire, some efforts have been made to address cases of land encroachment.
Colonel Al-Zarqa said his team recently evicted encroachers from a private plot after a year and a half, following a complaint from a resident.
With police operations resuming, complaints are now referred to investigative offices, while evictions are carried out amicably under the oversight of public prosecution. In such cases, officials also verify that alternative housing is available.
“We resolve conflicts before judicial escalation through community policing and tribal mediation,” the colonel shared.
However, he noted that not all cases can be settled this way. “Complex cases cannot be handled through mediation alone. Forgery in sale or lease contracts and fraud fall outside the scope of amicable solutions. Those involved are now being held accountable and detained at rehabilitation centres, which have recently been reactivated,” he added.
Speaking about those responsible, the colonel said they include “unscrupulous individuals, as well as armed gangs acting as hired agents for the occupation”. He added that these groups operate mainly near the ‘yellow line’ and in areas under occupation control along the eastern stretch of the Gaza Strip, from south to north.
He urged affected residents to take formal action. “We call on anyone whose private property has been encroached upon to go to police stations and file an official complaint with supporting documents,” he said, adding that all violators would be held legally accountable, including for actions taken during the absence of law enforcement.
He also pointed to existing grievance channels, including the police inspector general and the General Control Authority, which are intended to monitor delays in legal procedures.
Distant hope
For 30-year-old Bassam Dawood, the prospect of reclaiming his family’s land remains a distant hope.
The investigator met him at his tent in southern Gaza, where he lives with his four children, all of whom are frustrated by their inability to recover their rights.
While the family was trapped in northern Gaza during the genocide, Bassam said his uncle seized land they owned in Al-Nuseirat, in central Gaza, and settled there.
The land originally belonged to his mother, Fatima Abu Nour, and was inherited by her family. She and 14 relatives were killed during the genocide.
Bassam presented the property deed, which states: “The plot is subject to the tax register, including Fatima Abu Nour, based on a legal inheritance inventory and pursuant to the Gaza Settlement Officer’s decision in case number 11702/2017, registered under deed 223/2018.”
Despite this, he said his uncle has refused to leave and has rejected all mediation efforts, calling on him to vacate.
“After my father’s death, he became bolder,” Bassam said. “When we ask him for a document proving his claim, he says there is no paper, but he will bring witnesses.”
Now living in difficult conditions, Bassam faces further hardship. Although he owns 700 square metres of fenced land, he pays 400 shekels ($129) each month for a 50-square-metre tent to shelter his family.
He said the relative occupying the land remains defiant, telling mediators: “I will leave only with police enforcement.”
Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here