Annexation and Separation Wall.13 By utilizing a wide range of military orders and other practices, Israel confiscates and denies Palestinians use and access to their lands and properties throughout the West Bank. Main Mechanisms of Land Confiscation and Denial of Use Looking at the evolution of land confiscation and denial of use in Mandate Palestine, BADIL has identified three main mechanisms used by Israel. 1. Use of force This mechanism of confiscation through the use of force began in the late 1940s. The Nakba is a prime example of the use of force in the denial of use and access to lands (de facto confiscation). Zionist militias, which later became the Israeli army, forcibly displaced over 750,000 Palestinians in order to gain control of their lands.14 Israel immediately expropriated an estimated 17,178,000 dunums (17,178 km2) of land in 1948 from Palestinian refugees and afterwards continued to expropriate an additional 700,000 dunums (700 km2) from internally displaced Palestinians.15 The rights of Palestinians did not stand in the way, as first Prime Minister of Israel David Ben Gurion argued in 1948: “the war will give us the land. The concepts of ‘ours’ and ‘not ours’ are peace concepts, only, and in war they lose their meaning.”16 Historically, the use of force has been a significant step in denying Palestinians use of their lands and has been complemented by the other two mechanisms of confiscation. For example, after having been taken by force, these properties were also later confiscated through Israeli legislation such as the 1950 Absentee Property Law. Later on, Israel began the process of privatizing the properties. 2. Israeli Legislation Once the land was taken by force, Israel began working on bridging the gap between effective control and legal title to these lands, title which 13 B’Tselem, “Taking control of land and designating areas off-limits to Palestinian use,” 30 Oct 2013, available at: http://www.btselem.org/area_c/taking_over_land [accessed 19 September 2017]. 14 Isaac, Parallel Discourses, supra note 4. 15 BADIL, Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, 2002, 3, available at: http:// www.badil.org/phocadownloadpap/Badil_docs/publications/Survey-2002.pdf 16 Nur Masalha, Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of “Transfer” in Zionist Political Thought, 1882-1948 (Washington: Institute for Palestine Studies 1992):180. 12