Israel has seized Palestinian land near the northern West Bank city of Jenin to establish a military base inside Zone A — territory that, under the 1993 Oslo Accords, is supposed to be under full Palestinian security control. The move marks the first time Israel has taken such a step since the Oslo Accords were signed, and it has alarmed both residents and analysts who see it as a significant step toward the formalisation of Israeli control over the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian landowners learned of the expropriation through a WhatsApp message from the Palestinian Authority, notifying them that Israel was seizing just under one hectare of their land for military purposes. The Oslo Accords, signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), divided the West Bank into administrative zones: Zone A was designated as under full Palestinian civil and security control, while other zones involved varying degrees of shared or Israeli jurisdiction. The intention was always for Palestinians to eventually gain full sovereignty as part of a future state. By establishing a military installation inside Zone A, Israel has unilaterally stepped beyond that framework.

The seizure comes amid an already deeply strained situation in the northern West Bank. Roughly 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes following more than eighteen months of Israeli military incursions in the region. Israeli settlements have continued to expand in parallel. In February 2026, Israel's security cabinet had already approved measures transferring administrative powers in the West Bank from the military to civilian government ministries — a move widely interpreted as shifting de facto annexation toward a more formalised status. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, both prominent advocates of expanded Israeli settlement, have repeatedly pushed for deeper entrenchment in Palestinian territory.

The ideological roots of this drive run deep. Settler movements with religious and nationalist motivations have been active since the late 1960s, drawing on a theology that frames the West Bank — referred to in biblical tradition as Judea and Samaria — as central to Jewish identity and destiny. What began as a fringe ideology has gained mainstream political support over decades, accelerating markedly since 2023. The EU has issued sanctions against individuals and groups linked to financing illegal settlements, reflecting growing international concern.

For Palestinians in Jenin, a city that has borne the brunt of repeated military operations, the base signals something beyond a tactical manoeuvre. The establishment of permanent military infrastructure on land that was legally designated as theirs under international agreement reinforces fears that the political and territorial architecture of a future Palestinian state is being systematically dismantled — not through a declared policy, but through incremental facts on the ground.