GENEVA: Israel’s plans to tighten control over the occupied West Bank, paving the way for further settlement expansion, are a step toward consolidating illegal annexation, the UN rights chief said Wednesday. The plans include allowing Jewish Israelis to buy West Bank land directly, and extending greater Israeli control over areas where the Palestinian Authority exercises power. Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the decisions by Israel’s security cabinet were the latest in a string of measures to annex Palestinian lands.

JERUSALEM: Israel’s security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli…

The Palestinian presidency calls the decision a 'dangerous' Israeli 'attempt to legalize settlement expansion'.