The Palestinian president called the decision a “dangerous” attempt by Israel to legitimize settlement expansion.

Israel’s security cabinet approved new rules aimed at strengthening Israel’s control over the occupied West Bank, local media reported, a move that drew condemnation from the Palestinian authority.

In a statement on Sunday, the Palestinian president called the decision “dangerous” and “a public attempt by Israel to legitimize settlement expansion and land confiscation.” President Abbas’s office called on the United States and the United Nations Security Council to intervene immediately.

Jordan’s foreign ministry also condemned the decision, saying it was “aimed at imposing illegal Israeli sovereignty” and consolidating settlements.

Hamas called on Palestinians in the West Bank to “intensify their confrontation with the occupation and its settlers.”

The rules will make it easier for Israeli settlers to buy land in the occupied West Bank and give Israeli officials stronger powers to enforce laws against Palestinians in the area, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is one of the areas where Palestinians seek a future independent state, along with Gaza and occupied east Jerusalem. Much of the West Bank is under direct Israeli military control, with some areas having extremely limited Palestinian autonomy and governed by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

The new measures include lifting rules that prevent Jewish private individuals from buying land in the occupied West Bank, Israeli news outlets Ynet and Haaretz reported.

According to media reports, the measures also include allowing Israeli authorities to take charge of some religious sites and strengthening Israeli supervision and law enforcement in areas administered by the Palestinian Authority.

“We will continue to bury the idea of ​​Palestinian statehood,” the office of Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a statement.

According to the Palestinian Wafa News Agency, Palestinian Vice President Hussein Sheikh said that reports that Israel is expected to increase annexation efforts in the occupied West Bank and create new facts there are a complete violation of all signed binding agreements, a serious escalation, and a violation of international law.

He stressed that these unilateral measures are intended to eliminate any political prospects, obliterate the two-state solution and drag the entire region into further tension and instability.

The reports come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC.