Israel's Knesset has passed a controversial new law that retroactively legalises thousands of homes built on Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The regulation bill "applies to around 4,000 homes for which settlers could prove ignorance that they had built on privately owned land and had received encouragement from the Israeli state to do so", Al Jazeera reports.
"The original Palestinian landowners are to be compensated with money or alternative land," the BBC says.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) immediately released a statement describing the bill as a means to "legalise theft" and a step towards partial annexation of the West Bank.
"The Israeli settlement enterprise negates peace and the possibility of the two-state solution," it said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported the bill, which is seen as yet another in a series of pro-settlement moves that have taken place since US President Donald Trump took power.
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog compared the legislation to a "freight train" whose "cars will carry international indictments against Israeli and Jewish soldiers and officers".
Herzog also warned that the law would lead to Israel being tried at the international criminal court, reports The Guardian.
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Google: A monopoly past its prime?Feature Google’s antitrust case ends with a slap on the wrist as courts struggle to keep up with the tech industry’s rapid changes
-
Patrick Hemingway: The Hemingway son who tended to his father’s legacyFeature He was comfortable in the shadow of his famous father, Ernest Hemingway
-
Gaza genocide: will UN ruling change anything?Today's Big Question Commission of inquiry’s findings ‘give unprecedented weight’ to genocide claims
-
Why ‘anti-Islam’ bikers are guarding Gaza aid sitesIn The Spotlight Members of Infidels MC, who regard themselves as modern Crusaders, among private security guards at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites
-
Has Israel’s Qatar strike scuppered a ceasefire?Today’s Big Question Netanyahu ‘gambles’ on ‘overwhelming strength’ rather than diplomacy in attack on Hamas negotiation team in Doha
-
Israel targets Hamas leaders in Qatar airstrikeSpeed Read Hamas said five low-level leaders were killed in the attack
-
What are the Abraham Accords and why are they under threat?The Explainer The 2020 agreements would be 'undermined' if Israel annexes West Bank, UAE warns
-
What is Tony Blair's plan for Gaza?Today's Big Question Former PM has reportedly been putting together a post-war strategy 'for the past several months'
-
UN votes to end Lebanon peacekeeping missionSpeed Read The Trump administration considers the UN's Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to be a 'waste of money'
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
