PA temporarily bars Israeli Arabs from land transactions after Israeli Jews buy homes near Jericho

The temporary measure marks one of the first instances in which the Palestinian Authority has formally distinguished Israeli Arabs from Palestinians living under its jurisdiction.

The Palestinian Authority temporarily suspended land registration transactions last week for people holding Israeli citizenship or Jerusalem residency, following the purchase of eight homes by Jewish activists near Jericho, a city in Area A, according to an official announcement by the Palestinian Land Authority.

Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch, director of the Initiative for Palestinian Authority Accountability and Reform at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, argued that the PA likely believed the Israeli Jews had acquired the homes with the assistance of Israeli Arabs.

Palestinian law treats the sale or lease of land to Israeli Jews as an act of treason, which can carry severe penalties, including life imprisonment with hard labor and potentially the death penalty. In 2019, a Nablus court sentenced a Palestinian man to five years in prison for allegedly attempting to sell land to Israeli Jews. In 2018, a Kalkilya court sentenced two Palestinian men to 15 years of hard labor for their involvement in a network seeking to transfer West Bank land to Israeli Jews.

'Extending consequences beyond Palestinians living under PA jurisdiction'

“The decision exposes a fundamental contradiction in Palestinian Authority policy. While the PA considers Arab citizens and residents of Israel to be Palestinians, it now treats their Israeli citizenship as grounds for restricting their property transactions,” Hirsch wrote in a publication for the JCPA. “...The PA’s latest restrictions on Israeli Arab property transactions represent another dimension of this policy, extending its consequences beyond Palestinians living under PA jurisdiction to Arab citizens and residents of Israel.”

The PA has long regarded the approximately two million Arab citizens of Israel as Palestinian, regardless of their integration into Israeli society, military service, or self-described identities. The latest suspension, though a temporary restriction that has now been lifted, however, introduces one of the first distinctions based on the Israeli citizenship and residency status of Arabs.

Despite the Oslo Accords excluding Israeli citizens from the PA's personal jurisdiction, the authority has attempted to prosecute Israeli Arabs in the past for their alleged roles in land transfers to Jews and other alleged crimes.

The location of the eight homes is significant

The location of the eight homes is also significant. Although Jericho is in Area A, under PA civil and security control, the properties in question are located in Area C, which is under full Israeli civil and security control. Under the Oslo Accords, the PA's territorial jurisdiction does not extend to Area C, while Israeli citizens are also excluded from its personal jurisdiction. This raises questions about the PA's authority to investigate or prosecute Israeli citizens in connection with the purchases, even if Israeli Arabs were involved in facilitating the transactions.