Ammon News - The Israeli government on Sunday approved a decision to begin the registration and formal settlement of lands in the West Bank for the first time since 1967, according to reports.

The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation stated that the decision allows wide areas of the West Bank to be registered as “state lands,” paving the way for tighter control and potential expansion of the colonial settlements.

Extremist Israeli officials welcomed the move. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the decision “prevents unilateral steps, and we will be responsible for our land,” adding that “we continue the settlement revolution to control all our lands.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Army Minister Israel Katz emphasized that the government is, for the first time since the 1967 war, starting the registration of West Bank lands, allowing vast areas to be recorded as “property of the State of Israel,” according to his statement.

WAFA