The Israeli parliament allows returnees in four settlements — by amending the law

Israeli settlers are allowed to return to four settlements in the northern West Bank that were vacated nearly 20 years ago, according to a parliamentary decision. The parliament in Jerusalem voted in its final reading on Tuesday evening for a corresponding amendment to the law.

This is to resettle the four places Chomesh, Ganim, Kadim and Sanur who had also been evacuated as part of the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Since settlers returned alone several times. They were then forced to evacuate again.

31 of the 120 MEPs voted in favor of the draft, 18 against. The others were absent or abstained. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry warned of an “escalation of the conflict” even before the decision was made.

Last month, after deadly Palestinian attacks in East Jerusalem, the government decided to legalize nine unauthorized outposts in the occupied West Bank. The US and the EU were concerned about this.

During the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Today, nearly 600,000 Israelis live in more than 200 settlements. In 2016, the UN Security Council labeled these settlements a violation of international law and called on Israel to halt all settlement activities. The Palestinians want to establish their own states in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

Right-wing conservative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly announced that large parts of the West Bank will be annexed. However, in exchange for a rapprochement agreement with the United Arab Emirates in 2020, he had put these plans on hold. However, Israel then continued to expand settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

(sda/dpa)