Annexation without a declaration- Israel’s quiet seizure of the West Bank

Israel has not formally declared the annexation of the occupied West Bank. No dramatic parliamentary vote has proclaimed sovereignty over the territory. Yet on the ground, step by step, law by law, road by road, Israel is doing precisely that. Through administrative restructuring, settlement expansion, legal engineering and the steady displacement of Palestinians, the Israeli state is effectively absorbing large portions of the West Bank into its national system. It is annexation not by proclamation, but by practice. This strategy—often described as creeping or de facto annexation—allows Israel to transform the political geography of the occupied territory while avoiding the diplomatic shockwaves that a formal declaration would trigger. But the consequences are no less profound. What is unfolding today is […]