Israeli media said Defense Minister Naftali Bennett started new measures that prevent Palestinians from building in areas near settlements in the West Bank, even if they were located in Area B according to the Oslo agreement.
A similar ban had affected construction in Area C.
According to the Oslo Accords, Israel divides the West Bank into three areas: Area A, which is subject to the civil and security jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Area B, which belongs to PA civil jurisdiction, but is under the security control of Israel, and Area C, which is under Israel’s security and civil jurisdiction.
Israel recently said it does not recognize these divisions because it virtually controls all areas.
Bennett ordered a freeze on Palestinian Arab construction in Area B. In a letter to the attorney general's office, he claimed that Palestinian construction in an area where civil authority is vested in the PA threatens the security of Israeli settlements.
In the letter, Bennett banned Palestinian residents from continuing construction in an area near the Shiloh Valley in the Binyamin region.
According to a Ynet report, the decision constitutes an "unusual development" because under the Oslo Civil Authority, Area B is under the PA's civil control, with the PA responsible for granting building permits.
It is believed that Bennett kicked off a series of new decisions in order to support the new border maps that Israel is working on.
Israel has started mapping lands in the occupied West Bank that will be annexed to Israel in accordance with the peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump.
The new maps include the annexation of all Israeli settlements and the Jordan Valley, a region that Israel has kept under military occupation since its control in the 1967 war, but which the Palestinians claim as part of their future state.
