Israeli occupation forces have reportedly received instructions to prevent Palestinian farmers from plowing their lands in the West Bank, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The measures follow complaints filed by illegal Israeli settlers and are part of broader military operations aimed at restricting Palestinian agricultural activity. Haaretz reported that soldiers, particularly in Jabal al-Khalil, have been repeatedly deployed, especially at the start of winter, to halt essential farming activities. The newspaper described the term “plowing disruption” as a recognized operational task, which has quickly become a central focus for troops in areas where farming is routinely targeted.
To enforce the restrictions, the military has issued orders designating lands as “closed military zones," preventing farmers from cultivating their fields. In some cases, crowd control methods were used to disperse Palestinians attempting to work in their fields, and several farmers were detained for hours while trying to plow farmland.
Plowing at the onset of winter is critical to prepare land for spring planting. Delays in this process threaten crop yields and, over time, could contribute to the loss of Palestinian land ownership, as unplowed fields are often deemed abandoned and are susceptible to unilateral Israeli government claims.
The report also highlighted the role of Israeli settlers, who actively obstruct Palestinian agricultural work. Assaults have been documented across the West Bank, including southeastern Beit Lahm, the Ramallah area, and northern West Bank regions, where settlers’ attacks have led to injuries, arrests, and further disruptions, often coordinated with Israeli military support.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli ministers Israel Katz and Bezalel Smotrich pushed through a set of far-reaching decisions aimed at further entrenching what Israeli news website Ynet described as “Israel’s de facto annexation of Palestinian territories in the occupied West Bank.”
According to the report, the measures introduce sweeping changes to "land registration" and "acquisition procedures", significantly altering how land ownership is recorded and enforced in the territory. Under the approved decisions, Israeli authorities would gain expanded powers to demolish Palestinian-owned buildings, including in Area A, which is nominally under full Palestinian Authority control under existing agreements.
One of the most consequential steps involves lifting long-standing confidentiality restrictions on West Bank land registries. The move would grant Israeli authorities broader access to ownership records and is expected to facilitate greater state intervention in land disputes. The decisions are also expected to pave the way for a substantial expansion of settlements across the West Bank, as revised land policies make it easier for "Israel" to claim, reclassify, or reallocate land for settlement use. The measures stand in contradiction to the principles of the 1997 al-Khalil Agreement, signed as an interim arrangement aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute in the city of al-Khalil.
The military orders preventing Palestinians from plowing their lands come in line with a multi-pronged campaign by Israeli authorities to consolidate control over the West Bank, including settler attacks, military raids, forced displacement, and blocking income sources for Palestinians in the occupied territory.