Facts in Minutes That Raise Concern About Protecting Rights

 

When land regularization falters... Protection of rights slows, and the rule of law!

Land regularization is not merely an administrative transaction, but a national issue related to ownership, rights, and the protection of land and legally securing its owners ! The Land and Water Regularization Authority is one of the pivotal national institutions in formalizing ownerships and protecting Palestinian lands, and it was established by Decree-Law No. (7) for the year 2016 to carry out the regularization project, considering it a national priority.

However, the report of the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB) revealed administrative, technical, and organizational challenges that limit the efficiency of implementing this project! The State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB) conducted an audit of the completed settlement works and the employee appointments at the Land and Water Settlement Authority, for the period (2025, 2024

The report showed that the Authority issued regularization orders for an area of (1,927,335 dunums), i.e. 51% of the total targeted land, which amounts to (3,800,234 dunums), meaning that an area of ( 1,872,899 dunums) remains without issued regularization orders so far.....!

The lands that have been actually regularized amounted to only about 1.42 million dunums, i.e. approximately 37% of the total area required to be regularized, which reflects a clear slowdown in completing the national project!

The figures in the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB) report on the Land and Water Regularization Authority may seem like mere administrative indicators, but in reality, they reflect a national issue that touches on the protection of private property, strengthening legal security, and safeguarding Palestinian land, especially in light of the ongoing targeting of lands, particularly in areas classified as (C)!

The report reveals that what has actually been completed of the regularization work since the launch of the project does not exceed about 37% of the total lands required to be regularized, despite years having passed since the project began, while nearly half of the targeted lands still lack regularization orders altogether. These figures raise legitimate questions about the project's ability to achieve its objectives within a reasonable timeframe!

As for the cases before the regularization courts: after reviewing and following up the agendas of the regularization courts up to May 2025, the Bureau indicated a general weakness in case follow-up, and stated that the total completion rate in all courts spread across the governorates of the homeland for the regularization offices located therein reached about 1% of the total cases under consideration!... which points to the low rate of adjudication in the regularization courts at a very modest level (1%)!, reflecting administrative and judicial bottlenecks that delay the securing of rights and prolong disputes!

The issue was not limited to slow completion; the report also revealed an absence of institutional planning, as there are no operational or annual plans that determine regularization priorities according to clear criteria. Rather, areas are often selected based on requests from local bodies, which weakens the project's strategic planning!

Another notable observation is that the Authority does not carry out surveying work itself as stipulated by law, but relies on private companies contracted through local bodies. The report pointed to the continued operation of 65 regularization offices in residential clusters since 2016 without completion of their work up to the audit date, reflecting the long duration for completing regularization files in a large number of areas!

Added to that is the absence of internal oversight reports specifically following up regularization work, and the lack of a clear methodology for distributing employees among governorates according to workload, indicating an urgent need to strengthen governance, oversight and institutional management.

It is credited to the Authority that its response to the report was positive, and it announced its commitment to implementing the recommendations of the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB), which is an important step, ..... if it is translated into practical measures and measurable timetables!

The land regularization project is not merely an administrative measure to register ownerships, but one of the tools to protect Palestinian land, strengthen the rule of law, and consolidate social and economic stability! Therefore its success requires scientific planning, efficient management, effective oversight, and a tangible acceleration in delivery, so that the recommendations of the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB) turn from observations on paper into real reforms on the ground!