ISRAELI OCCUPIED WEST BANK, 23 Feb. - (ANA) - Israel’s recent decision to expropriate the archaeological site of Sebastia "for the public interest" has prompted warnings from Palestinian officials that thousands of heritage sites across the occupied West Bank are at risk.

 

On 17 February, the Israeli army issued the order targeting Sebastia, in what Palestinian officials describe as part of a broader shift to expand Israeli control over archaeological sites beyond Area C into Area B and potentially further.

 

Palestinian officials warn that around 7,000 archaeological, religious and tourist sites across the West Bank could face similar measures that would provide legal cover for settlement expansion and weaken Palestinian historical ties to the land.

 

Saleh Tawafsheh, undersecretary of the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, told The New Arab's sister outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed: "This is the first time an Israeli government has dared to issue a public decision to take control of archaeological sites. The Israeli decision to expropriate the archaeological area in Sebastia is unprecedented and is a prelude to annexing the West Bank."

 

He said the current decision includes the confiscation of around 2,000 dunams (494 acres) and the creation of a park separating the archaeological site from the surrounding town, effectively isolating it.

 

Extending such measures into Area B, which falls under Palestinian civil administration but Israeli security control under the Oslo Accords, represents "a notable development in the mechanism of imposing control", he added.

 

According to Tawafsheh, about 60 percent of the West Bank’s 7,000 sites,  roughly 3,800, are located in Area C, which is under full Israeli control, with around 1,800 in Area B and 1,300 in Area A, which is under Palestinian civil and security control. Sites in Areas C and B are considered most vulnerable to isolation or expropriation.

 

He said ministry teams face repeated obstruction in Areas B and C.

 

He cited an incident this week in the village of Jifna north of Ramallah, where ministry teams conducting excavation work were fired upon with live ammunition, sound bombs and tear gas by Israeli forces and expelled from the site, although the village is classified as Area B.

 

Asked what the Palestinian Authority could do, Tawafsheh said: "What can the Authority do in light of international complicity with the occupying state?"

 

He described efforts to save Palestinian heritage as facing "very great difficulties", adding that officials are documenting violations and trying to engage international institutions.

 

The expropriation order comes amid wider moves by Israel aimed at increasing its control of the West Bank.

 

In July 2024, the Knesset approved a draft law extending the authority of the Israel Antiquities Authority to archaeological sites across the occupied West Bank, without specifying particular areas. Earlier this month, a parliamentary committee advanced amendments to establish a "West Bank Heritage Authority" with an estimated annual budget of at least 30 million shekels (US$9.6 million).

 

Israel destroyed more than 316 archaeological sites in Gaza and the West Bank during the war on Gaza, according to previous statements by Palestinian Tourism and Antiquities Minister Hani Hayek, who described the destruction as war crimes aimed at erasing Palestinian history.

 

Dirgham al-Faris, director of the Tourism Ministry office in Nablus, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that "there are 59 archaeological and tourist sites in Nablus governorate threatened with the same fate as Sebastia in terms of annexation and seizure".

 

Mohammad Addarbeh, head of the Department of Archaeology and Heritage at Hebron University, said Israel has long used archaeology as a tool to serve political objectives by promoting narratives that "lack scientific basis in archaeology".

 

He argued that "the core of the conflict revolves around the land as a religious and civilisational heritage, which Israel seeks to instrumentalise politically through what it describes as archaeological evidence".

 

Addarbeh warned that control efforts have expanded from Hebron in the south to Sebastia in the north, extending beyond Areas C and B and reflecting what he described as a broader policy of settlement and expansion pursued under the pretext of protecting antiquities.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/23 February 2026 - - -