RAMALLAH, November 30, 2016 (WAFA) – Israel‘s cabinet convened Wednesday morning to discuss a government-sponsored bill to legalize unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.
The daily said the bill would be submitted for a vote in the Knesset later on the day.
Lawmakers will vote on two drafts of the measure, one that proposes to authorize the neighborhood districts retroactively to spare the West Bank settlement of Amona from evacuation, and one which would not.
Haaretz added that the cabinet postponed a debate that had been scheduled for Tuesday about Amona until Wednesday morning after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fell ill with flu.
Israel’s High Court of Justice has ruled that Amona, built on private Palestinian lands, must be evacuated by December 25.
The Jewish-only settlements are deemed illegal under international law. They violate article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which establishes that the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.
Settlements have rapidly expanded across the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the last two decades and have severely curtailed the possibility of establishing a contiguous Palestinian state.
There are over half a million Israeli settlers living in settlements across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in violation of international law. They are provided by the Israeli government with infrastructure and public utilities, including bypass roads, that remain inaccessible to many Palestinians.
M.N/ K.F
