Is Land in the West Bank Registered to Its Owners?
Order 291 halted West Bank title registration in 1968, the State Comptroller recorded; its 2021 audit found the registers kept in hard copy.
Since 1968, systematic registration of land title in Judea and Samaria has been halted under military Order 291, the State Comptroller of Israel recorded in a 2016 audit. From the late 1970s the Civil Administration used a different procedure, the declaration of state land. That procedure does not, as a rule, end in registration. The State Comptroller’s 2021 audit found that the registers that do exist are kept in hard copy, with no computerised system.
| Figure | What it counts | Who published it | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Year Order 291 halted land settlement, meaning registration of title | State Comptroller of Israel | Order of 5729-1968; audit 2014, checks to December 2015 |
| 1990s to September 2015 | Period with no substantive change in the settlement of state land in the registers | State Comptroller of Israel | As stated in the 2016 audit |
| 1:20,000 or 1:50,000 | Scale of hand-drawn state-land declaration maps, not marked on the ground | State Comptroller of Israel | Maps signed late 1970s to early 1990s |
| 60% | Share of real-estate transaction files scanned without the certification of transfer of rights | State Comptroller of Israel | Audit September 2018 to June 2019 |
| About 4 years | Time spent computerising the registers, not completed | State Comptroller of Israel | As at the 2018 to 2019 audit |
| Areas A and B | Land placed under the Palestinian Council’s jurisdiction in the first phase of redeployment | Israel and the PLO, Oslo II | Signed 28 September 1995 |
Order 291 halted land settlement in Judea and Samaria in 1968
The State Comptroller recorded that land settlement, the registration of title, was halted in the area under the Order concerning Land and Water Settlement, Order 291 of 5729-1968. The Comptroller’s 2016 chapter sets that halt inside the legal frame it describes on printed p. 74.
- The law in force on 7 June 1967 remains in force, except where a proclamation or order of the military commander changes it.
- That law rests on Ottoman law as amended under the British Mandate and Jordanian rule, including the Ottoman Land Code of 1858.
- Order 291 of 1968 halted land settlement (p. 74, footnote 5).
- From the late 1970s, the Civil Administration used the declaration of state land in place of settlement (p. 74, footnote 5).
State land declarations do not end in registration, the Comptroller found
The State Comptroller found that a declaration of state land “אינו מסתיים, בדרך כלל, בהסדר בספרי המקרקעין”: it does not, as a rule, end in settlement in the land registers, which is a settled and final registration (printed p. 69). The same audit states that from the 1990s until September 2015 there was no substantive change in the settlement of state land in the area.
- A declaration is declaratory, is not meant to determine rights in land, and may be contested before the military appeals committee at any time (p. 110).
- In September 2015 the Civil Administration told the Comptroller, in its own stated position, that registering all state land carries political, security, legal and economic implications (p. 110).
- Declaration maps signed from the late 1970s to the early 1990s were drawn by hand at 1:20,000 or 1:50,000 without marking on the ground (pp. 69 and 110 to 111).
- The Civil Administration’s Blue Line team re-examines those maps, and private land, mostly Palestinian, was found inside declared areas on which Israeli localities were built (pp. 110 to 111).
The 2021 audit found Judea and Samaria registers kept in hard copy
The State Comptroller found that real estate in Judea and Samaria is registered in hard-copy registers, with no computerised system. The audit, Annual Report 70C, ran from September 2018 to June 2019 and states that the registers are consequently “exposed to errors, inaccuracies, to deliberate biases in exceptional cases and to a non-optimal level of service”.
| Finding | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Hard-copy registers | Form in which real estate in the area is registered | As at the audit |
| 60% | Share of scanned transaction files scanned without the certification of transfer of rights, the basis for registration | As at the audit |
| About 4 years | Time spent computerising the registers, not completed | As at the audit |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, Annual Report 70C, English abstract, audit September 2018 to June 2019.
Oslo II put land in Areas A and B under the Council
The Interim Agreement states, in Article XI(2), that “Land in populated areas (Areas A and B), including government and Al Waqf land, will come under the jurisdiction of the Council during the first phase of redeployment.” In Area C, the same article provides that “Israel will transfer to the Council civil powers and responsibilities not relating to territory.” The text quoted is the English published by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a party to the bilateral agreement.
| Clause | What it says | Area |
|---|---|---|
| Article XI(2) | Land in populated areas comes under the Council’s jurisdiction | A and B |
| Article XI(2) | Civil powers “not relating to territory” are transferred | C |
| Article XVII(2) | Territorial jurisdiction covers the West Bank “except for Area C” and “includes land, subsoil and territorial waters” | A and B |
| Article XI(3) | Areas A and B are defined by red lines and shading on map No. 1; Area C is the areas outside them | All |
The Agreement states no percentage for any area. More on how the Council’s powers operate is in the record on whether the Palestinian Authority runs its own areas.
No Israeli body publishes the share of West Bank land registered
None of the Israeli records read for this page publishes a percentage or dunam total of West Bank land registered to its owners. The State Comptroller’s 2016 audit records the mechanism and its halt, and states no share of the area’s land that was ever settled.
| Record | What it publishes on registration | Registered share |
|---|---|---|
| State Comptroller, 2016 | Order 291 halt; declarations not ending in registration | Not published |
| State Comptroller, 2021 | Hard-copy registers; scanning and computerisation gaps | Not published |
| Oslo II, 1995 | Land jurisdiction by area | Not published; no area percentage |
Which figures here may not be combined?
The 60% is a share of scanned transaction files, not of all files and not of registrations. A declaration of state land is not a registration of title, on the State Comptroller’s own account, and the two may not be counted as one. The 2016 chapter is Hebrew and the renderings here are working translations; the 2021 text is the Comptroller’s own English abstract. Oslo II defines areas by map and states no share of territory for any of them.
Questions readers ask
Who halted land registration in the West Bank?
The State Comptroller recorded that land settlement was halted under Order 291, an order of the military commander dated 5729-1968.
What replaced registration after 1968?
The State Comptroller recorded that from the late 1970s the Civil Administration used the declaration of state land.
Does declaring land state land register it?
No. The State Comptroller found that a declaration does not, as a rule, end in settlement in the land registers.
Can a state-land declaration be challenged?
Yes. The State Comptroller states that a declaration is not final and may be contested before the military appeals committee at any time.
How were the declaration maps drawn?
The State Comptroller found that maps signed from the late 1970s to the early 1990s were drawn by hand at 1:20,000 or 1:50,000, without marking on the ground.
Was private land found inside declared state land?
Yes. The State Comptroller reported that the Blue Line team found private land, mostly Palestinian, inside declared areas on which Israeli localities were built.
Are the West Bank land registers computerised?
No. The State Comptroller found in its 2018 to 2019 audit that the registers are hard copy, after about 4 years of computerisation that was not completed.
What law governed West Bank land before 1967?
The State Comptroller states that it was Ottoman law as amended under the Mandate and Jordan. The Ottoman Land Code’s Article 1 divides land into five classes, in F. Ongley’s unofficial 1892 English translation.
Did Oslo II give the Palestinian Council land jurisdiction?
The Interim Agreement states that land in populated areas, Areas A and B, comes under the Council’s jurisdiction, and excludes Area C from its territorial jurisdiction.
What share of Area C is it?
The Interim Agreement states no percentage for any area. It defines Areas A and B by lines on map No. 1 and Area C as what lies outside them.
What did the Civil Administration say about registering state land?
The State Comptroller recorded the Civil Administration’s own statement in September 2015 that registering all state land carries political, security, legal and economic implications.
Sources
- Israel and the PLO, 1995. The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (Oslo II), Articles XI and XVII. English text published by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gov.il. Primary record, treaty text.
- Ottoman Empire, 1858. The Ottoman Land Code of 7 Ramazan 1274, Article 1. Unofficial English translation by F. Ongley, revised by Horace E. Miller, London, 1892. Primary record, enacted legislation.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2016. Judea and Samaria Area: Activity of the Supervision and Enforcement Unit and Aspects of Land Registration. Annual Report 66b. library.mevaker.gov.il/sites/DigitalLibrary/Documents/2016-66b-201-IOSH.pdf. Official record, Hebrew.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2021. Staff Officers in the Civil Administration in the Judea and Samaria Region. Annual Report 70C, English abstract, pp. 55 to 59. library.mevaker.gov.il/sites/DigitalLibrary/Documents/2020/70c/EN/2020-70c-107-Ayosh-TAKTZIR-EN.pdf. Official record.
