was appropriating 988 acres (1.54 square miles), defining it as Israeli state land as opposed to private Palestinian land south of Bethlehem, a seizure which prohibits Palestinians from using the area. According to Peace Now, it was the largest confiscation of Palestinian land in three decades. The move, first prompted by a suggestion at a security meeting by Moshe Ya'alon, was explained both as a response to the murder of three Israeli teenagers and as a measure adopted by Benjamin Netanyahu to placate government allies to his right who were critical of his handling of Hamas in the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. The land belongs to the five Palestinian villages of Jab'a, Surif, Wadi Fukin, Husan and Nahalin. The IDF maintains that there are no Palestinian claims on the land, but that those who felt they had valid claims, could appeal within 45 days of the announcement. Palestinians in the area, including the mayor of Surif, Ahmad Lafi, said that land belongs to them and that they harvested olive trees there. The land making up the Gevaot land appropriation is located on the Palestinian side of the current route for the Israeli West Bank barrier. Reactions Israel The move was hailed by the Gush Etzion settlements council as an opportunity to expand Gevaot. Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister, said that the Gush Etzion area "would remain a part of the state of Israel" in any future peace agreement. Naftali Bennett, Israel's economy minister, described the move as an "appropriate Zionist response to murder", adding: "What we did yesterday was a display of Zionism. Building is our answer to murder." Davidi Perl, speaking on behalf of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, hailing the announcement as paving the way to the establishment of a Gevaot city, stated that: "The murderers of the three teens wanted to plant fear in our hearts and disrupt our daily lives, and our answer is strengthening the settlements and constructing both inside the main blocs and outside of them." Michael Oren, Israel's former ambassador to the United States, commented that it was part of a pattern: "The government does something that is unpalatable to the right wing, whether it be making concessions in the peace process or, in this case, agreeing to a cease-fire in Gaza, and then it attempts to palliate the right by building in Judea and Samaria or, in this case, reclassifying land." Yariv Oppenheimer