This policy paper will attempt to highlight how Israel uses Palestinian archaeology and the Palestinian cultural and natural heritage in order to grab land in the West Bank on which to build Zionist nationalist and religious settlements and thus to facilitate their annexation by Israel. Direct control over archaeological and other cultural and natural sites assuredly means total dominance and freedom to alter at will the names and histories of these sites to conform with the extremist Zionist colonialist narrative regarding them and in relation to Palestine's cultural heritage.
Ever since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, it has used diverse means to expropriate settled Palestinian lands and to build religious-nationalist settlements in their place. But before we broach our main topic, it may be useful for readers to understand the general context of the history of Biblical archaeology in Palestine and how it has been used together with Biblical names and concepts since the third decade of the nineteenth century in the service of Zionist claims as regards the land and people of Palestine. Since the mid nineteenth century, and in tandem with a surge of imperialist activity in Palestine, archaeological and geographical field surveys began to be conducted. Thus, in 1838 Edward Robinson and his colleague Eli Smith carried out a comprehensive survey of archaeological and geographical sites in Palestine which was published in 1841 under the title Biblical Researches in Palestine.[1] In his research and that of his colleague he foisted Biblical names and concepts on archaeological sites, villages and natural landscapes in Palestine and these concepts and names were used in all subsequent surveys conducted in Palestine after Robinson and Smith. Robinson is thus considered the “Father of Biblical Archaeology” and founder of the modern science of Biblical archaeology.[2] The work of Robinson and Smith was then carried on by the British imperialist establishment which in 1865 founded the Palestine Exploration Fund which funded field archaeological research involving British archaeologists of the mid nineteenth century as also during the British Mandate period,[3] the most notable of which was the Survey of Western Palestine.[4] This latter is an important survey despite its imperialist orientations since it was the first systematic documentary record of settled communities and natural sites and provided a valuable portrait and information about the natural and cultural scene in Palestine from the end of the nineteenth century and up until Israel's occupation of the West Bank in 1967.
By the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries, research institutes and schools of biblical archaeology, European and American, were established in Jerusalem, and these published their field research in journals.[5] In their research, Biblical names were foisted on Palestinian archaeological sites in order to give them a Biblical-nationalist identity on the ground and to allege Israel's ownership of them. The end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries witnessed the period when archaeology was directed at presenting the Biblical- Zionist narrative as regards Palestine's cultural and natural heritage,[6] and Israel employed that narrative to expropriate and absorb occupied Palestinian lands.
The seizure of archaeological sites and of Palestine's cultural and natural heritage prior to their annexation and settlement
Immediately after its occupation of the West Bank in 1967, Israel began to use archaeology as a weapon to seize occupied lands and establish religious and nationalist Zionist settlements on them prior to annexing them. The manner employed to do so is very dangerous and leads to Israeli land seizures followed by settlements, annexation, and expulsion of the Palestinians, severing their age-old attachment to their cultural and natural heritage, and in the process violating international humanitarian laws and treaties.
The Department of Antiquities was run in accordance with the Jordanian Law of Antiquities of 1966 which the Israeli army designated as “Temporary Law no 51 for 1966”[7]. Israel then issued Order no 119 which transferred the responsibilities of the head of antiquities to the Israeli military governor. In 1981, the Civil Administration was set up as a military authority to run the affairs of the occupied lands[8] and a military officer was appointed to oversee antiquities in the West Bank and Gaza. In 1986, Israel issued two military orders: Order no 1166, and Order no 1167. These changed the composition of the consultative council to include representatives of the Israeli Antiquities Authority and Israeli academic institutions.[9] When the PLO signed the Oslo I Accord in Washington on 13 September, 1993, Israel transferred control of archaeological sites in Gaza and Jericho to the Palestinian Authority in May, 1994.[10] In 1995, and according to Oslo II, agreement was reached to divide the West Bank into Areas A, B and C between the PA and Israel (Figure 1). Areas A and B amount to about 40% of the area of the West Bank with Area C amounting to about 60%.
[Figure 1: Map of the West Bank and division of areas into control areas A, B and C. Source: ARIJ)
In areas A and B, civil administration of the population, including oversight of archaeological sites, was transferred to the PA, and the Palestinian Department of Antiquities was founded in 1994, which in 2002 became the Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage (DACH). Antiquities were then run[11] according to the Jordanian Law of 1966 right until 2018 when the Palestinian Law of Antiquities and Material Heritage replaced the previous Jordanian law.[12] In area C, the Israeli civil administration has continued to be in charge of archaeological sites and to be responsible for overseeing civilian life until the present day [2024], even though the agreement stipulated that archaeological digs in area C would gradually be transferred to the PA, depending upon progress towards a permanent settlement of the situation in these areas. Until that time, such activities would be subject to the temporary law of 1966.[13] Israel opened the doors wide before its Antiquities Department and academic institutions to carry out digs and surveys in the West Bank[14], such as at Tulul Abu'l `Alayiq [“Herod's Winter Palaces”] in Jericho, Tall al-Faridis [“Herodium] to the east of Bethlehem, Khirbet Qumran, al-Khan al-Ahmar, Mount Jerizim in Nablus, the Nabi Samu'il and other West Bank sites. There exist a number of strategies and measures employed by Israel to seize lands in the West Bank prior to annexing them, among which are:
First: Legal dressing and military orders
Under the cover of law, the Israeli government has during its years of occupation of the West Bank issued a number of decisions and military orders covering antiquities and the cultural and natural heritage. These were mostly in violation of international law and treaties and came as a result of systematic pressure and recommendations exerted by heads of settlement councils and extremist Zionist religious groups hiding behind what they call “protection of Jewish antiquities” to seize and annex land. Examples of such campaigns of incitement include the “Shiloh Forum”[15] and the “Regavim”[16] Settler Movement which act in cooperation with the Israeli Society for Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites (or, SPIHS). These recommendations have come to constitute the grounds for the antiquities laws and military orders that facilitate the government's seizure of occupied lands. A group of researchers, guided and funded by the settlement movements mentioned above, allege that during the period from August 2019 and until March 2020, they carried out a comprehensive review of all Palestinian activities through aerial photography and field documentation by using patrols and drones. They concluded that there existed encroachments and violations in the area covered by their fieldwork, which included 365 sites. Their study revealed that 289 sites covered by that review suffer from medium to severe damage: 24 sites in Area A (73%), 67 sites in Area B (99%) and 198 sites in Area C ((75%).[17] Their report was called National Heritage Survey and was published in July, 2021.
When one reads this report, one cannot but notice the absence of a scientific methodology for the study and assessment of archaeological sites, whether through archaeological digs or surveys. The problem lies in the methods used to survey and examine these sites through field visits to determine the extent of damage in addition to the mix-up in determining the geographical sites among Areas A, B and C. Those responsible for that survey did not offer any explanation regarding the criteria they used to classify the sites surveyed, not to speak of the more important factor, namely, the obvious political motives of those who carried out that survey and their extremist Zionist backers. At the very beginning of their report, they stated that they were carrying out their survey in order to help the Israeli government protect the Jewish cultural heritage and “limit the damage”, as they put it. Since January 2023, Israel has adopted several decisions regarding antiquities, particularly resolutions 90 and 786[18] which seek to expand the authority of the Israel Antiquities Department and its powers to include the whole of the West Bank, allowing Israel to more easily seize and annex these sites. The legislative amendments introduced by Likud Knesset member Amit Halevi to the Israel Antiquities Law [P/2345/25- Amendment to the Israel Antiquities Authority in Judea and Samaria, 2023] are perhaps the closest to come to mind. On 7 July 2024, a preliminary vote was taken on Halevi's amendment which seeks to apply Israel's antiquities law to the West Bank, thereby expanding the authority of Israel's Antiquities Department to cover all regions in the West Bank.[19] His amendments clearly show the very dangerous racist justifications proposed by Halevi to amend the existing laws and enlarge the powers of that department to include all archaeological sites in the West Bank. Halevi has no problem in fanning incitement against the Palestinians when he states that “the region is rich in Jewish antiquities and heritage of the Jewish people,” and in alleging that they are being erased, and further alleges that these sites are in a wretched condition and are being plundered or destroyed. On the very same day when the Halevi amendment was being voted upon, the new military governor of the region, according to “Emek Shaveh”, signed a military order to seize an area of 1.3 dunums at the top of the Sebastia archaeological site (Figure 2)[20] prior to bringing the entire Sebastia site under Israeli control and annexing the agricultural lands that surround the site.
But before we move to discuss other Israeli techniques of seizure and annexation, we ought first to examine the reasons given for submitting these amendments to the antiquities law, and then to assess their impact once they are given their final reading as they pertain to a political settlement of the Palestine question and to Palestine's antiquities and cultural legacy.
[Figure 2. Facsimile of the military order and a map of the land seized at the Sebastia archaeological site. Emek Shaveh]
Protecting Jewish heritage
The proposer of these amendments offered the above justification alleging that the archaeological sites in the West Bank are Jewish sites that need to be protected and developed. This is a very odd and unintelligible claim, betraying a total misunderstanding of archaeology and the history of peoples, especially when one is speaking about archaeological sites and cultural and natural heritage. For these reflect the aggregate of the histories of diverse cultures that left their mark on these sites which, together with natural vistas, constitute a heritage reflected in the Palestinian villages spread throughout the occupied territories. Halevi, however, intends, under cover of protecting antiquities, to seize more land and expand the network of illegal settlements.
Plundering antiquities on the West Bank
One cannot deny the fact that there are thieves who deal with stolen antiquities in the occupied territories, betraying total ignorance of the importance of the Palestinian people's antiquities and material culture. But despite such illegal activity, this situation was in fact brought about because of Israel's occupation, one that is characterized by economic and security instability.[21] It is ironical that Halevi speaks of stealing antiquities and trading in them when the Israeli Department of Antiquities in the Civil Administration has itself stolen antiquities found at the archeological site of Bi'r Hasan in al-Jalama, near Jenin, and these were then removed inside the “Green Line.” Israel, through its Civil Administration in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, has conducted more than 1600 licensed digs at 1004 sites in the period 1967 to 2007. A little information can be gleaned from 747 sites but there is absolutely no information available about 257 sites.[22] Nor do we possess any statistics regarding the number of digs carried out by the Civil Administration and the Settler movements after 2007 in areas under their control under the heading of “rescue digs.” Until the present day, and some three decades following the Oslo Accords, Israel has yet to hand over archaeological objects discovered at digs conducted on the West Bank or submitted a list of them to the Palestinian Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage. As a result of lengthy work in Palestinian antiquities for purposes of research and teaching, thousands of archaeological objects removed from the West Bank are presently in the possession of the antiquities officer in the Civil Administration or of the Israeli Department of Antiquities. This constitutes the crime of removing cultural heritage by force from their owners as defined by the Hague Convention of 1954. This illustrates the systematic manner practiced by the occupying authority in stealing antiquities and in destroying the cultural heritage of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and elsewhere in occupied Palestinian lands.
Destruction of archaeological sites
Some sites in the West Bank may have been destroyed through pure ignorance but Halevi presented his allegations regarding destruction of sites as a justification for land seizure. Some might imagine that Israel's control over these sites will protect them from destruction and plunder but the side that actually carries out a systematic destruction of Palestinian archaeological sites in the West Bank is in fact Israel itself. Its history is replete with its destruction of Palestinian archaeological sites. This began in 1967 with its destruction of the Maghariba Quarter in Jerusalem[23] and continues unabated in Gaza today, where estimates indicate that more than 60% of cultural sites in Gaza have been damaged or totally destroyed during Israel's genocidal war on the Palestinian people of Gaza since October 7, 2023.[24].
The dangerous political consequences of Halevi's amendments
There are more than 7000 known archaeological sites (Figure 3) in the West Bank[25]. If this law is passed, it could lead to intervention by the Israeli Antiquities Department in every one of these sites dispersed throughout the villages and towns of the West Bank, making it easier for Israel to seize them and control their narrative. In turn, this would allow Israel to seize these lands and transform them to expand the settlements network, legalize annexation and impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank to foil once and for all the idea of a two-state solution and any geo-political project to establish a Palestinian state. Figure 3 displays the vast number of sites known at present in the West Bank, a reflection of the ancient and varied history of countryside communities in the West Bank. These sites are spread over the West Bank and considered part and parcel of the identity and cultural heritage of the original inhabitants. Needless to add, Israel's control over these sites effectively means separating the Palestinians from their visible and material culture and foiling their age-old efforts to maintain these sites in existence. Moreover, such control would mean a flagrant violation of Palestinian rights to manage and develop their own environmental and cultural resources in accordance with human rights laws and international humanitarian law.
[Figure 3. Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Geographical Information for 2024]
Second: Annexation of archaeological sites by the Settlements in the West Bank.
A report issued by Emek Shaveh and Yesh Din documents the activities of the Israeli government in the West Bank and its handing over archaeological sites to the Settlement councils under the pretext of protecting and developing these sites. Israel has transferred a large number of sites to the settlements such as Khirbet Silun (“Tell Shiloh”), Susia, Khirbet al-Mazra`a (“Tell Amona”) and others.
Among the adverse effects of this transferal to the settlements is the seizure of the lands surrounding these sites and prohibiting the entry of Palestinians which in effect means preventing the Palestinian people in the West Bank from direct contact with their historic and cultural sites that constitute part of their cultural identity.
Third: “Illegal” Seizure[26], renaming, and annexing Palestinian cultural and natural sites
The Zionist settler movements, under the protection of Israel's military authorities, carry out an “illegal” campaign of seizure of historical sites. These settlers seize archaeological sites and the surrounding lands as happened in Nab` `Ayn al-Qaws[27] near the villages of Dayr Nizam and Nabi Salih, north of Ramallah. There, the settlers, starting from the Halmish settlement, began to intrude into the Nab` as early as 2010 and called it “`Ayn Meir.” They then prevented the inhabitants of the two villages from approaching the Nab` and the agricultural lands nearby and vandalized the site by building a fence around the springs, roofed the site and built steps up to them, placed tables around, planted trees and prepared it to be an entertainment site. These acts damaged irreparably the archaeological sites in the Nab` area. The same was true of nearby villages where there exist springs of water that supply these villages such as the assault on the sacred site known as “Nabi `Annir” in 2014 and the seizure of an environmental region where there existed a spring near the sacred site of “Nabi `Annir”. They then gave a Hebrew name to the site “Springlet of `Anar—The Garden of the Three” on lands belonging to the two villages of Ras Karkar and Dayr `Ammar. The settlers began to occupy the site, visit it regularly, and urge other settlers to visit it and walk along the path of Nabi `Annir where there exists a mosque and cemetery and some ancient ruins. The inhabitants of ancient sites and small countryside villages in the West Bank were forcibly evicted from their homes by the army and the settlers. The “Organization to resist the Wall and the Settlements” documented the most egregious instances of violations committed by the occupation and the settlers in occupied Palestinian lands in 2023 such as the forcible eviction of the inhabitants of Khirbet Zannuta in the Zahiriyya region, of Khirbet `Ayn al-Rashshash /Zahr al-Jabal to the east of Ramallah, and of Wadi al-Siq and Khirbet Jab`it to the north of Ramallah, prior to settling these areas and annexing them.[28]
Fourth: Seizure of religious sites prior to annexing them
Among other techniques employed by Israel to annex land and sever the Palestinians from their religious and social heritage is the seizure of sacred sites by diverse means and strategies aimed at controlling the lands surrounding these sites and annexing them to the Zionist settler heritage. The organization called “Women against Occupation and for Human Rights” documented 40 such sites, and described the manner in which Israel and the settler movements operate in order to seize sacred sites and divest the Palestinians from their religious and cultural heritage. A sacred site and its surrounding territory is annexed by military order and the entire area is declared a closed military zone, or else sacred sites are annexed to the Authority to Protect Nature so that the law of nature protection is applicable to them rather than the law of religions[29]. Alternatively, the area of the sacred site and its surrounding territory is seized by erecting a military watch tower that watches the area and prevents Palestinians from visiting it. This is the case with the Nabi Yaqin site in Bani Nu`aym where settlers under army protection attacked the inhabitants and the municipality and prevented them from restoring and refurbishing the site.
Fifth: Seizure of land under the pretext of creating nature reserves
On March 5, 2024, the Israeli occupation authorities issued three new military orders designed to seize thousands of dunums of lands in the occupied West Bank under the pretext of creating nature reserves. These orders included the nature reserve of Umm Zuqa by altering the borders of the reserve so as to make it expand to 24,924 dunums. Another military order concerned the Fasayil nature reserve where its lands were readjusted to have a total area of 13,134 dunums, while a third order annexed the nature reserve of Qana and Samar where its land area was readjusted to become 7306 dunums. The ARIJ Foundation in Jerusalem has documented 45 nature reserves officially acknowledged by the Israeli occupation (53 sites) in the occupied West Bank whose total area is 350.7 square kilometers, representing 6.2 % of the total area of the West Bank. (Figure 4).
[Fgure 4: Map of the West Bank and distribution of nature reserves according to Areas A, B, and C . ARIJ]
Most of these nature reserves (294.5 sq km—84% of the total area of nature reserves according to Israel's classification) are located in Area C which is under complete Israeli occupation whereas only 4% of nature reserves are located in Area A, according to Oslo Accord II for 1995, where the PA is totally responsible for internal security and public order, while 8.3 % of the area of nature reserves is located in Area B, where the PA has complete control of civilian affairs while the Israeli occupation authorities have control of security.[30]
Conclusions and final observations
Israeli policies persist in seizing sites of Palestinian cultural heritage and the natural resources of the Palestinian people with the aim of evicting that people from its land and of building Zionist settlements on them. The international community regards the West Bank as occupied territory, seized by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. Therefore, the occupying state is subject to all provisions of international law and treaties [The Hague Treaty of 1907 and Articles 43 and 55, as well the Hague Treaty of 1954], the UNESCO Convention of 1970 as well as other treaties and conventions. Added to this is the Jordanian or local law of 1966 which was in effect in the West Bank before 1967. These are the laws which are supposed to govern the actions of the occupying state (Israel) as regards archaeological discoveries and Palestinian sites of culture and nature in the occupied territories. However, Israel has adopted policies in total violation of all these conventions in order to enhance its control over the land, to deny the Palestinian narrative and to entrench the Zionist narrative through manipulation of archaeological discoveries.
Israel has issued laws and military orders to do with archaeological sites, sacred enclaves and nature reserves and has annexed vast areas which it placed under the control of Zionist settler councils in Area C. The latest law, voted upon in its first reading on July 10, 2024, namely, “Expansion of the mandate of the Antiquities Authority to include the West Bank” is perhaps the most dangerous of all since it achieves many of the goals that Israel has striven to reach in its occupation of the West Bank. The application of Israel's law of antiquities to more than 7000 known archaeological sites in the West Bank and to 45 nature reserves, together with the application of the law of national gardens to religious sites mean complete control over the narrative of these sites, just as has been done with major and important sites in Area C, such as the Tall al-Faradis, Khirbet Qumran and other sites. The aim is to drive a wedge between the Palestinians and their cultural heritage and historical identity.
The application of the Israeli law of antiquities to this vast number of archaeological and natural sites in the West Bank represents one major step taken by Israel to seize Palestinian lands and property, destroy agricultural lands surrounding these sites and prevent Palestinian access to these sites. This will lead to a forcible but silent eviction of the Palestinian population. Furthermore, Israeli control of archaeological sites and Palestinian cultural heritage will mean further expansion of the settlements and annexation of territories surrounding these sites, denial of Palestinian access to them and preventing the Palestinians from exercising their right to develop their cultural and natural resources. As for Israel's control over nature reserves and springs of fresh water most of which fall under the law of antiquities or of protecting nature reserves and national gardens, this will mean further control over agricultural lands, pastures, and water resources, denying access to the original inhabitants and restricting their lives so as to get them to leave their land. All this is taking place concurrently with settler assaults on Palestinian villages and lands and settlement on the hills of the West Bank and their surroundings. In other words, settlement and creeping annexation run in tandem with official Israeli policies and settler violence.
Therefore, the role of the Palestinians should be to exercise increased pressure on Israel through international organizations such as UNESCO and ECOMOS to drive Israel out of these organizations and enhance the BDS movement in the field of antiquities and cultural heritage. They should strive to increase Israel's international isolation and pressure the academic community of archaeologists and others interested in cultural heritage to boycott Israeli academic archaeology. Palestinian institutions involved in the field of antiquities and cultural heritage ought to increase awareness among the Palestinian community of the importance of antiquities and cultural heritage and prevent Israel from employing the pretext of destruction and plunder of archaeological sites.
[1] Edward Robinson and Eli Smith, Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the Year 1838, 3 Volumes (London: John Murray, 1841); Edward Robinson and Eli Smith, Biblical Researches in Palestine and the Adjacent Regions: A Journal of Travels in the Years 1838 and 1852, 2 Volumes (London: John Murray, 1856).
[2] James Bennett Pritchard, Archaeology and the Old Testament (Princeton University Press, 1958).
[3] عمر عبد ربه، "علم الآثار ودوره في تكريس المشهد التوراتي: مدينة داود نموذجاً"، "مجلة جامعة بيت لحم"، العدد 36، (كانون الأول/ديسمبر 2019)، ص 34-61.
[4] C. R.Conder and H. H. Kitchner, The Survey of Western Palestine (London: Committee of Palestine Exploration Fund, 1881-1883).
[5] Adel Yahya, Archaeology and Nationalism in the Holy Land, in Archaeologies of the Middle East: critical perspectives, edited by Susan Pollock and Reinhard Bernbeck (Malden MA: Blackwell, 2004), pp. 66-77.
[6] كيت وايتلام، "اختلاق إسرائيل القديمة: إسكات التاريخ الفلسطيني"، ترجمة سحر هنيدي (الكويت: المجلس الوطني للثقافة والفنون والآداب، 1999).
[7] القانون الموقت رقم 51 لسنة 1966، قانون الآثار.
[8] Neve Gordon, Israel's Occupation (University of California Press, 2008), pp. 167- 168.
[9] Hamdan Taha, “Archeological Heritage in Area C”, This week in Palestine, 2021.
[10] "اتفاق تنفيذ الحكم الذاتي في قطاع غزة ومنطقة أريحا"، القاهرة، 4/5/1994.
[11] Hamdan Taha, op.cit.
[12] "قرار بقانون رقم (11) لسنة 2018م بشأن التراث الثقافي المادي"، ديوان الفتوى والتشريع، 3/5/2018.
[13] "الاتفاقية الفلسطينية الإسرائيلية المرحلية، واشنطن، 28/9/1995"، وكالة الأنباء والمعلومات الفلسطينية "وفا".
[14] Raphael Greenberg, and Adi Keinan, Israeli archaeological activity in the West Bank, 1967-2007: a sourcebook (Israel: Ostracon, 2009).
[15] منتدى شيلو، الصفحة الرئيسية.
[16] حركة رغفيم، الصفحة الرئيسية، تقارير ميدانية.
[17] "الحملة على المنطقة 'ج‘"، منتدى شيلو، (بالعبرية).
[18] قرار الحكومة رقم 786 بتاريخ 17 يوليو 2023: خطة لإنقاذ وحفظ وتطوير ومنع نهب وتدمير الآثار في المواقع التراثية في منطقة يهودا والسامرة وغور الأردن وتعديل قرار حكومي (بالعبرية).
[19] “Position Paper: Proposed Amendments to the Antiquities Authority Law to Expand the Authority's Jurisdiction into the West Bank”, Emek Shaveh, 9/7/2024.
[20] “Alert: Military issues order to seize land at summit of ancient site of Sebastia”, Emek Shaveh, 26/7/2024.
[21] Adel H. Yahya, “Looting and ‘salvaging', how the wall, illegal digging and the antiquities trade are ravaging Palestinian cultural heritage", Jerusalem Quarterly, Issue 33 (Winter 2008).
[22] Greenberg and Keinan, op.cit.
[23] Vincent Lemire, In the Shadow of the Wall: The Life and Death of Jerusalem's Maghrebi Quarter, 1187–1967, Trans. by Jane Kuntz (California: Stanford University Press, 2023).
[24] حمدان طه، "تدمير التراث الثقافي في غزة"، ورقة سياسات، مؤسسة الدراسات الفلسطينية، 2024:
زكي عبد اللطيف أبو هاشم، "التدمير المقصود لدور الوثائق والأرشيف والمؤسسات الثقافية والمكتبات في مدينة غزة"، ورقة سياسات، مؤسسة الدراسات الفلسطينية، 2024.
[25] Taha, op.cit.
[26] إن الاستيلاء بقانون (كما ذكرت سابقاً) أو بغير قانون هو في المحصلة غير قانوني، لأنه يخالف القانون الدولي والاتفاقيات الدولية باعتبار الضفة الغربية أراضي عربية محتلة ينطبق عليها القانون الدولي، وليس القانون الإسرائيلي.
[27] تقرير مكتب الأمم المتحدة لتنسيق الشؤون الإنسانية، الأرض الفلسطينية المحتلة، OCHA، آذار/مارس 2012، ص 14 - 18 (بالعبرية).
[28] "ملخص لأبرز انتهاكات دولة الاحتلال والمستعمرين في الأراضي الفلسطينية المحتلة خلال عام 2023"، هيئة مقاومة الجدار والاستيطان – منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية، كانون الثاني/يناير 2024، ص 54 - 56.
[29] Women against the occupation and for Human Rights, "Israel's Takeover of Palestinian Sacred & Heritage Sites in the West Bank: Forty Heritage Sites & the Occupation Practices of Dispossession & Appropriation", 2020.
[30] "سلطات الاحتلال الإسرائيلي تلتهم أراضي الضفة الغربية بذريعة المحميات الطبيعي"، معهد الأبحاث التطبيقية "أريج"، 2024.