‘Netanyahu is deceiving you’: Anti-settlement organization warns Trump

An Israeli anti-settlement organization has warned Donald Trump that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is moving ahead with the de facto annexation of the occupied West Bank, notwithstanding alleged opposition to the move by the US president.

Peace Now said on Sunday that a few days after Trump's statement emphasizing his opposition to Israel's annexation of the West Bank, the Israeli cabinet "decides on a step that amounts to full-scale annexation.”

The Israeli regime’s “decision on a land settlement in the West Bank is a mega-robbery of Palestinian lands. Land registration will result in the transfer of ownership of the vast majority of Area C" to the regime, and the "Palestinians will not have the actual possibility of exercising their ownership rights,” it added. Area C comprises more than 60 percent of the occupied territory.

The body noted that even the regime itself had prohibited such annexation following its Western-backed Six-Day War in 1967, which led to the West Bank’s occupation.

“It is not for nothing that international law prohibits land settlements in occupied territory… We are warning President Trump - Netanyahu is deceiving you! You said you would not allow annexation, but he is annexing right under your nose.”

An initial 244.1 million shekels (more than $78 million) is allocated over five years -- 2026 to 2030 -- to establish a mechanism for registering and settling land in Area C. It follows a May 2025 resolution directing preparatory work to open settlement procedures in the West Bank.

Under the decision, a “Settlement Administration” will be created within the regime’s so-called justice ministry to oversee land registration in the West Bank.

Overall, the settlement process could enable Israeli takeover of 83 percent of Area C.

Peace Now stated that the process required Palestinian landowners to prove ownership “in a way that is almost impossible for them,” adding that if they failed, the land would “automatically” be registered in the name of the regime. The organization stressed that land registration constituted a distinct act of sovereignty prohibited for an occupying regime under international law.

The move has invited additional sweeping condemnation, including by the Gaza Strip-headquartered Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, which described it as “a null and void decision issued by an illegitimate occupying power.”

Hamas said the plan represented an attempt “to impose settlement and Judaization realities by force, in flagrant violation of international law and UN resolutions.”

The Palestinian Authority described the decision as a “serious escalation” that effectively nullified signed agreements and contravened UN Security Council resolutions.

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