Israel claims 170 dunams as 'state land' in West Bank

Israel has claimed 170 dunams in the occupied West Bank as so-called "state land", opening up the possibility of use for settlement purposes.

Extremist government minister Bezalel Smotrich said the defence ministry's Civil Administration, which deals with the civilian side of Israel's illegal occupation, had made the claim.

The area affected, equivalent to 0.17 square kilometres, is in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc and is situated around an archaeological location, the Times of Israel news website reported.

Part of Smotrich's ministerial role is within the Israeli defence ministry, under which the Civil Administration operates.

The far-right minister said he had been seeking to promote West Bank state land claims during the past year.

He called these "very important processes in the campaign for open spaces" in the territory.

All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.

There are currently more than 700,000 Jewish settlers residing illegally across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

Israeli forces have seized at least 27,000 dunams (27 square kilometres) of land since Tel Aviv launched its brutal war on Gaza on 7 October, the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission said on Saturday.

The confiscated land includes 15,000 dunums seized under the guise of adjusting the boundaries of natural reserves in Jericho and the Jordan Valley, as well as 11,000 dunums through three orders declaring them state lands in Jerusalem and Nablus, according to Moayad Shaaban, the CWRC's president.

"[Israel] makes use of its fierce hostility towards our people in the Gaza Strip by carrying out massive confiscation operations of Palestinian land, affecting 27,000 decares of Palestinian territories," Shaaban said in a statement marking Palestine's Land Day.

The commission also said that 230 dunums had been seized through 24 seizure orders for military purposes, preventing Palestinian access to thousands of dunums in the future.

The remainder of the land was seized to make way for buffer zones established around illegal settlements.