The Land Authority Reviews Two Years of Efforts in Establishing Ownership, Protecting Rights, and Developing the Land Sector

Ramallah - Afaq News - The Land Authority, in collaboration with the Government Communication Center, organized a press conference today, Monday, at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, titled: "The Land Sector: Two Years of Hard Work in Facing Difficult Challenges, Supporting the Resilience of Our People." The conference was dedicated to reviewing the reality of the land sector in the State of Palestine and what has been achieved during the years 2025-2026 in terms of efforts and interventions in settlement, real estate registration, digital transformation, state property management, and institutional and legislative reform, in addition to discussing the main challenges and priorities for the upcoming phase, with the participation of government institutions, partners, and entities working in the land sector, as well as representatives from the media.

Mohammad Abu Rab, Director of the Government Communication Center, stated that the meeting aims to showcase what has been accomplished as part of a series of sessions, under the directives of the Prime Minister, pointing to the significant transformation made by the Land Authority in integrating the Settlement Commission with the Land Authority, which has led to the acceleration of settlement processes. He noted that 61% of the lands have been confirmed and registered in ownership, and there are positive indicators in this regard, including the completion of settlement work in the Jericho Governorate before the end of this year, and the completion of settlement work in several areas of northern West Bank by the end of next year.

He pointed to the efforts to preserve public funds for government land allocations and to invest them optimally to support other sectors, emphasizing that confirming people's ownership is a priority, especially since most lands in the West Bank are classified as "C." Meanwhile, there are 10,000 Palestinian cases filed in Israeli courts through law offices, in cooperation with the institutions of the State of Palestine.

For his part, the head of the Land Authority, Minister Alaa Al-Tamimi, stated that the efforts of the Land Authority over the past two years have focused on two integrated tracks; the first is to protect the rights and ownership of citizens and expedite the procedures for confirming them, especially in areas most vulnerable to challenges, while the second focuses on developing the land sector institutionally and technically, unifying references, improving service levels, expanding digital transformation, and employing modern technology.

63.6% of the area of the West Bank is officially registered. Efforts are ongoing to complete the registration.

Al-Tamimi explained that the area of the West Bank is approximately 5,843,355 dunams, of which 3,716,653 dunams are registered, accounting for 63.60% of the total area, while the area of unregistered land or land still undergoing settlement processes is about 2,126,702 dunams, according to updated data until September 2026.

Regarding the settlement file, he pointed out that approximately 1,986,824 dunams had their settlement processes completed before the start of the ongoing settlement project since 2016, while the area completed within the project from 2016 until September 2026 reached about 1,756,673 dunams. Settlement works have been fully completed in 110 towns and villages by the end of 2025.

He noted the field expansion of settlement offices to facilitate citizens and expedite work, as the number of offices increased from 92 at the end of 2025 to 95 during 2026, operating under the supervision of 11 settlement departments in the governorates. During the first half of the year, settlement works were completed on an area of 59,096 dunams, covering more than 35,000 dunams using modern technologies in classified (C) areas and high-risk areas, with citizens exempted from survey costs amounting to nearly 1.75 million shekels.

Issuing more than 100,000 registration deeds and 121,000 certificates of registration over a year and a half.

In the real estate services sector, Al-Tamimi indicated that the year 2025 and the first half of 2026 witnessed the issuance of 101,456 registration deeds and 121,337 certificates of registration, alongside rapid steps in the field of digitization and the development of services provided to citizens.

These steps included archiving 40,273 transactions electronically, updating 37,079 ownership records by adding the owners' ID numbers, as well as expanding electronic linkage with relevant entities, activating electronic payment, and developing services for updating owners' data and exchanging government data.

He also pointed out the launch of the new Palestinian geodetic reference as one of the important technical achievements, as it provides a unified national reference for the coordinates used in surveying and engineering works, and allows for increasing the accuracy of real estate and spatial data and developing the surveying system in Palestine.

Institutional reform and unification of references

In the context of reorganizing the land sector, Al-Tamimi explained that the year 2025 witnessed the merger of the Land and Water Settlement Authority into the Land Authority, as part of a trend towards unifying references and improving the efficiency of management and services.

The merger process included about 588 employees, in addition to unifying administrative and technical systems, procedures, and references, and merging databases, archives, and electronic systems, which contributed to reducing institutional duplication and establishing a unified executive reference for settlement, registration, surveying, and land management activities.

In the judicial track, the offices of the land and water settlement courts were transferred and merged within the Supreme Judicial Council, which reinforced the separation between the executive aspect of settlement work and the judicial aspect related to disputes and objections.

The reform track also included the adoption of the strategic plan for the Land Authority for the years 2025–2027, and the completion of an institutional risk register covering public administrations and supporting units, in addition to developing the legislative environment. Among its most prominent milestones are: the State Property Delegation System No. (8) of 2026, and the Real Estate Appraisal System No. (7) of 2026, under which the powers to organize the profession of real estate appraisal and supervise and monitor it were transferred from the Capital Market Authority to the Land Authority, enhancing the organization of the profession and developing the real estate market within a clear institutional reference.

State property in the service of public benefit

Regarding state property, Al-Tamimi stated that public data indicates about 570,000 dunams of state property, more than 80% of which is located in areas classified as (C), which adds national importance to this file alongside its economic and developmental dimensions.

During the period of the nineteenth government, 117 allocation decisions were issued covering an area of approximately 1,613 dunams for public benefit projects in various sectors, including energy, industrial cities, local governance, education, health, agriculture, youth and sports, security, endowments, and culture.

44 definitive referrals were issued for leasing state-owned lands covering an area of approximately 455 dunams for agricultural, tourism, and developmental projects. In the field of protection, the committee for preserving state property studied 127 files, resulting in 86 decisions to remove encroachments, while the state property management committee reviewed 862 files during 79 sessions.

Priority for threatened areas and securing ownerships

Al-Tamimi confirmed that securing citizens' rights and their ownerships in classified area (C) and threatened areas remains a top priority for the land authority, amid escalating Israeli measures related to land, registration, planning, and property ownership.

He explained that the authority intensified its Palestinian settlement efforts in response, reinforced the securing of rights in official records, protected maps, documents, and property restrictions, and developed databases while coordinating with relevant national institutions.

He indicated that assessing the impact of encroachments and closures on the authority's work showed that approximately 2,685 plots of land were affected, 176 real estate area transactions were disrupted, in addition to the inability to conduct field inspections for 17 other transactions, along with the disruption of surveying and settlement work in vast areas, including about 8,000 dunams in Deir Istiya and thousands of dunams in the countryside of Dura.

Partnerships to Support the Development of the Land Sector

In terms of international cooperation, Al-Tamimi pointed out the continuation of implementing a number of projects and programs with international partners, foremost among them is the real estate registration project - phase two funded by the World Bank, in addition to cooperation with the European Union, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, the Dutch government, and several institutions and international partners in the fields of registration, settlement, land governance, protection of tenure, digital transformation, and capacity building.

He added that the Land Authority chairs the Land Sector Working Group in Palestine, which provides a framework for coordination between government institutions, international partners, donors, and entities working in the sector, helping to unify priorities and coordinate interventions and projects.

Gaza.. Protecting Rights and Preparing for Reconstruction

Regarding the Gaza Strip, Al-Tamimi confirmed that the real estate records and restrictions related to the lands of the sector are preserved by the Land Authority and constitute the official reference for proving rights and ownership, which becomes increasingly important in light of the devastation and displacement caused by the war.

He explained that the authority contributed its real estate records, technical expertise, databases, and geographical information to the government efforts related to relief and planning for reconstruction, including providing data for shelter locations for displaced persons with an estimated area of about 187 thousand dunams.

He pointed out that the requirements for reconstruction will enhance the role of the land sector in protecting properties and real estate rights, preserving records, maps, and data, dealing with the effects of destruction on borders and field landmarks, and providing a reliable real estate and geographical information base that safeguards the rights of landowners and supports planning processes.

The next phase... completing settlement, digitization, and protecting rights.

Al-Tamimi confirmed that the next phase will focus on accelerating settlement work, especially in areas classified as (C) and threatened areas, establishing rights and ownership, completing the digitization of records and archives, developing registration systems and electronic services, protecting state property and investing it for public benefit, completing institutional reform, enhancing international partnerships, and raising the readiness of the land sector to deal with the requirements of reconstructing the Gaza Strip.

He concluded by emphasizing that the development of the land sector is directly related to protecting the citizen's right to his land, enhancing real estate security, and supporting development and resilience, stressing the continuation of work with national institutions and partners to develop a more efficient sector capable of protecting rights and ownership and responding to challenges.