Property
Ottoman categories, incomplete registration, and Israeli land administration in Area C
Land law rests on Ottoman categories carried through Mandate and Jordanian legislation. Registration is incomplete across much of the West Bank, and Area C land administration is exercised by Israeli authorities.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Palestinian registration in Areas A and B where settlement of title was completed; Israeli Civil Administration land registration in Area C.
Governing law
- Ottoman Land Code 1858, as carried forward
- Land Settlement of Title Ordinance No. 40 of 1928Mandate
- Jordanian Land and Water Settlement Law No. 40 of 1952
In practice
Ottoman categories — mulk, miri, waqf, matruka and mawat — still determine what rights exist, and the distinction matters because Israeli authorities have used the mawat and unregistered miri categories to declare land state property in Area C. Title settlement under the Mandate and Jordanian programmes was never completed: roughly a third of the West Bank was systematically registered before 1967, and settlement was frozen thereafter, so most holdings rest on tax records, unregistered deeds and possession. This evidentiary weakness, not the substantive law, is the practical heart of most Palestinian land disputes.