Palestine slams Israel’s law for West Bank settlers

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Palestine on Tuesday denounced a bill which seeks to extend application of Israeli laws on settlers living in the occupied West Bank.

On Tuesday, Israel’s parliament approved the first reading for a bill to extend the “emergency regulations” for settlers living in the occupied territory.

The bill is set to be forwarded to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for second and third readings.

In a statement, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry termed the bill an “apartheid law” that legalizes Israel’s annexation of the West Bank areas.

“Such colonial and discriminatory law […] grants settlers the same rights of Israeli citizens inside Israel,” the statement said.

The ministry warned that the bill “constitutes a grave violation of international law, the international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.”

The ministry said it was considering measures to confront it.

The bill was first enacted in 1967 to apply Israeli laws on the settlers living in the West Bank and has since been extended every 5 years.

The draft will benefit nearly half a million Israeli settlers living in the West Bank.

Under international law, all Jewish settlements in occupied territories are considered illegal.