Palestinians’ claims of ownership are rarely approved; many families depend on decades-old Ottoman-era documents or were never permitted to formally register their land in the first place. This is an illegal decision that amounts to de facto annexation under occupation and reflects Israel’s greater escalating annexation, occupation, and apartheid policies in the occupied West Bank.
To the Toronto Star and Associated Press,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (www.cjpme.org) regarding the Associated Press article published by Toronto Star on February 25, 2026 titled: “With rocks, clubs and flammable liquid, Jewish settlers descend on a Palestinian hamlet.”
The article notes that the Israeli government has accelerated the legalization and construction of “new settlements” and allowed Jewish settlers to establish outposts on hilltops surrounding Palestinian villages. However, it glaringly fails to mention that these settlements and outposts are considered illegal under international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from transferring its civilian population into occupied territory.
In fact, on February 15, 2026, the Israeli cabinet issued a decision that amounts to de facto annexation under occupation, allocating more than $78 million to establish a government mechanism to facilitate land registration in Area C. This decision transfers key land registration powers from the Civil Administration, which operates under Israeli military authority, to Israel’s Ministry of Justice, thereby enabling Israel to designate land in the occupied West Bank as “state property” if Palestinians are unable to meet proof-of-ownership requirements. However, Palestinians’ claims of ownership are rarely approved; many families depend on decades-old Ottoman-era documents or were never permitted to formally register their land in the first place. This is an illegal decision that amounts to de facto annexation under occupation and reflects Israel’s greater escalating annexation, occupation, and apartheid policies in the occupied West Bank.
Moreover, since October 7, 2023, settlement expansion has accelerated significantly. New outposts have multiplied, existing settlements have expanded, and the population of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank has surpassed half a million. These settlements are illegal under international law and constitute an ongoing violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Given this context, we respectfully request that the article clarify the illegality of Jewish settlements in the following sentence: “His hardline government, meanwhile, has accelerated the legalization and construction of new illegal settlements and allowed settlers to establish new illegal outposts on hilltops ringing Palestinian villages.”
Anything less normalizes ongoing violations of international law and falls short of the Canadian Association of Journalists’ standards of accuracy and fairness.