Israel is being accuse of causing “more friction” after the Gaza war when it announced on Sunday a land appropriation in the occupied West Bank.

It has declared 400 acres near Bethlehem to be Israeli state land.

The Israeli army said there was no claim of Palestinian ownership on the land in question.

A local Palestinian mayor said Palestinians owned the land and harvested olive trees on them.

Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal under international law.