Palestinians were declared ‘absentee property’ and were transferred to a Custodian.6 An almost identical process took place in the oPt in the aftermath of the 1967 War, when Israel occupied the remaining 22 percent of the land of Mandate Palestine. Israel also claimed as ‘state land’ all the land that Jordan had designated as such during its administration of the West Bank. Following the 1967 occupation, Israel proceeded to acquire Palestinian lands in the oPt by applying several approaches simultaneously: expropriations for specific purposes, like military or public use; claiming additional land as ‘state land’; and private purchases.7 Also in 1967, Israel annexed 70.5 km2 of East Jerusalem,8 using one third of this newly acquired land for colonies, in contravention of international law. Today, 87 percent of East Jerusalem is slated for colonial use.9 As with other discriminatory policies and practices, the purpose is to forcibly transfer Palestinians through the denial of use of land and property. In 1995, the Oslo II Accords divided the West Bank into Area A, comprising 17 percent of the West Bank, Area B, 23 percent of the West Bank, and Area C, the remaining 60 percent of the West Bank (see link to map).10 The Oslo Accords provided that the Palestinian Authority (PA) exercise full control over civil and security matters in Area A.11 In Area B, the PA is responsible for civil matters and public order, but security and military functions remain under Israeli control. Area C is under full Israeli military and administrative control. This area contains all Israeli colonies12 and related infrastructure, as well as Israeli nature reserves and national parks, military firing zones and the 6 Absentee Property Law, 5710-1950. 7 BADIL and Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, Ruling Palestine: A History of the Legally Sanctioned Jewish-Israeli Seizure of Land in Palestine, 78, available at: http://www.badil.org/phocadownloadpap/ Badil_docs/publications/Ruling%20Palestine.pdf 8 In 1968, the UN Security Council declared the annexation decree illegal and in flagrant violation of international law. See UN Security Council Resolution 252 (1968) of 21 May 1968. 9 OCHA oPt, “Continued settlement activity in East Jerusalem,” 30 September 2014, available at: https://www.ochaopt.org/content/continued-settlement-activity-east-jerusalem [accessed 19 September 2017]. 10 Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement Maps”, 28 September 1995, available at: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA_Graphics/MFA%20Gallery/1995/9/MFAJ01v30.jpg [accessed 19 September 2017]. 11 However, the Israeli forces conduct almost daily incursions into Area A in breach of the Accords, and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed that the “freedom of action [of the Israeli forces] in Area A is sacred.” See: Barak Ravid, “Bennett Threatens: Limiting Israel’s Military Activity in West Bank Cities Will Undermine Coalition’s Stability,” Haaretz, 7 April 2016, available at: https://www.haaretz.com/ israel-news/.premium-1.713312 12 The term ‘colonies’ in this paper refers to both official settlements and outposts. An outpost is the commonly used term to describe an Israeli-Jewish colony within the West Bank that has been established without authorization of Israel. 11