Peace Now, an anti-settlement group that opposes Israel’s activities in the West Bank, said the land seizure was the largest announced by Israel since the 1980s.

They say the land appropriation is meant to turn a site where 10 Jewish families are living next to a Jewish seminary into a permanent settlement.

Anyone with ownership claims has 45 days to appeal; a local mayor said that Palestinians owned tracts of land there, which they used to harvest olives.