RAMALLAH, December 7, 2016 (WAFA) – News that the so-called “Formalization Bill” passed a preliminary vote in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on Tuesday hit the front page headlines in the Palestinian dailies on Wednesday.

Al-Ayyam said the bill that would retroactively legalize Israeli settlement outposts across the West Bank has been widely condemned as a theft of Palestinian land and a step toward the annexation of the West Bank.

Al-Quds reported Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett as stating: “]This is a historic day in the Knesset[, which went from establishing a Palestinian state to Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” using the Israeli term for the occupied West Bank.

It added Israel has retracted a plan to relocate the settlers to be evacuated from Amona settlement outpost to a nearby plot of land after Palestinian landowners proved in court their ownership of the land in question.

Highlighting official reactions to the bill, al-Hayat al-Jadida reported the Palestinian Authority (PA) would approach United Nations organizations to repeal the bill.

It said Zionist Camp leader Issac Herzog slammed the bill as a “national suicide” for Israel, while United Nations envoy for the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov warned the bill would have “far-reaching legal consequences for Israel.”

It is worth noting that according to Israeli human rights group Peace Now, the bill would result in the retroactive legalization of 55 settlement outposts and the expropriation of at least 8,000 dunums of private Palestinian lands.

Highlighting home demolitions, al-Quds and al-Ayyam said Israeli bulldozers conducted a spate of demolitions of Palestinian property in Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida explained Israeli bulldozers demolished two Palestinian homes and a stable for horses in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.

The three dailies reported Israeli bulldozers, escorted by soldiers, razed large tracts of Palestinian lands in Jaloud village, east of Nablus, and in the Hebron district.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida added Israeli forces detained 10 Palestinians, including a woman, during overnight raids across the West Bank.

The dailies said the Israeli Construction and Planning Committee of the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem is slated to discuss and approve 20 new settlement construction plans in Jerusalem district.

Al-Quds said President Mahmoud Abbas and US Consul-General in Jerusalem Donald Blum discussed the upcoming meeting of the Palestinian-US Committee for Strategic Dialogue.

It reported Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee Saeb Erekat as stating France has informed the Palestinian leadership that the international peace conference would be held on December 21.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem is slated to approve an alternative plan of the light rail route.

Al-Ayyam said Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Fatah movement for its decision to elect imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi as a member of the Fatah Central Committee.

It added Israeli military conducted drills using live ammunition across the northern Jordan Valley.

K.F./M.K.