Israel Civil Administration Plans to Seize 1,800 Dunams in Sebastia — the Largest Antiquities Expropriation to Date

The Israeli Civil Administration has announced its intention to expropriate approximately 1,800 dunams at the archaeological site of Sebastia — the largest land seizure for antiquities ever recorded in the West Bank.

The land lies adjacent to village homes and to Area B, and includes thousands of olive trees on privately owned land.

It is registered in the land registry in the name of Palestinian owners, who have been given 14 days to submit objections. The government has already allocated more than 30 million shekels for developing the site.

Peace Now: “The Israeli government’s drive for dispossession and annexation knows no limits, and it is prepared to violate international law openly to pursue it. This is part of a broader effort to take control and expand settlements in areas northwest of Nablus that Israel evacuated during the disengagement. Sebastia is a heritage site located inside a Palestinian village, part of its history and part of a future Palestinian state.

Under the Oslo Accords, signed by Israel, it should have been transferred to Palestinian administration long ago. Israeli greed harms not only the landowners, but also the prospect of a peaceful solution that upholds the rights and heritage of both peoples.”

Land expropriations for antiquities development have been carried out in the West Bank only five times since 1967, to the best of our knowledge. In several of those cases, Palestinians later lost access to the sites. Full details and historical examples are available in the comprehensive report on our website.

Sebastia is notable because the area targeted for expropriation functions as an economic, cultural, and tourism hub for local residents and has been open to the public. Shops, restaurants, guiding services, and guest rooms operate around the site, which lies among the village’s homes. The planned expropriation concerns the western section, an area with fewer homes and surrounded by olive groves.

The scale of the plan is unusually large. Authorities approved the seizure of 1,800 dunams, compared with the previous record of 286 in Susya. Although much of the land designated for expropriation has been classified as archaeological, the part currently visited by tourists covers only about 60 dunams.

The notice is a continuation of earlier government decisions regarding Sebastia. In 2023, the government approved a 32-million-shekel plan to develop the site, and in 2025, the Civil Administration began archaeological excavations.

At the nearby Mas’udiya (Sebastia) railway station, construction has begun on a tourism settlement. Tourism has been used for settlement purposes before, but in the northern West Bank, it now appears tied to broader plans that include the Homesh and Sa-Nur settlements.

International law permits expropriation in occupied territory only when it serves the needs of the occupied population. In the case of Sebastia, it is unclear how the plan would benefit Palestinians. The development would ease access for Israelis while excluding Palestinians from their land and from the archaeological site.

Read the Full Report

11-19-25 Peace Now map of Sebastia Land Grab for Settlements

Click here to subscribe FREE to Ray Hanania's Columns

About
Latest Posts

Ray Hanania

Syndicated columnist, radio host, writer at Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

His award winning columns can be found at www.HANANIA.COM Subscribe FREE today

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at [email protected].

Follow RayHanania at Twitter