The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that newly announced Israeli measures in the occupied West Bank are paving the way for a sharp expansion of illegal settlements and a surge in violence, further undermining the future of the Palestinian people.

In a statement posted on its official X account on Wednesday, UNRWA said the measures adopted by Israel constitute a “recipe for increased control, hopelessness and violence” in the occupied territory. The agency added that the decisions represent a serious blow to international law and set “dangerous precedents with global impacts.”

The warning follows a decision by Israel’s security cabinet last Sunday to implement a series of steps aimed at imposing full Israeli control over the West Bank. According to Israeli peace advocacy group Peace Now, the measures include allowing Jewish settlers to purchase land in the occupied territories with almost no restrictions and without meaningful government oversight.

Peace Now said the new policy would also grant settlers the authority to determine political realities on the ground without state intervention, a move the group warned could lead to widespread abuse, including an industry of forged and fraudulent real-estate transactions.

In addition, the Israeli cabinet decided to strip powers from the Palestinian Authority in al-Khalil (Hebron) and in Areas A and B of the West Bank, further eroding Palestinian administrative and security control.

Peace Now said these decisions amount to “a direct violation of the international agreements to which Israel is committed” and described them as concrete steps toward the annexation of Areas A and B.

Under the 1995 Interim Agreement, known as Oslo II, the occupied West Bank was temporarily divided into three administrative zones. Areas A and B, comprising around 40 percent of the territory, were placed under Palestinian civil administration and, in Area A, Palestinian security control. Area C, which makes up about 60 percent of the West Bank and contains Israeli settlements, remained under Israeli control pending a final status agreement that was supposed to be concluded by May 1999.

Rights groups and UN agencies say the latest Israeli measures signal an attempt to bypass these international commitments and begin direct administrative operations inside areas under the Palestinian Authority, a move widely viewed as a step toward de facto annexation.

UNRWA warned that such actions risk entrenching occupation, inflaming tensions, and closing off any remaining prospects for a just and lasting political solution based on international law. (ILKHA)