Knesset passes bill to allow Israelis to resettle in evacuated settlements

By Abdel Raouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – The Knesset (Israel’s parliament) has passed the second and third readings of a bill to allow Israeli settlers to resettle in four settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The bill rolled back legislation that ordered the evacuation of the illegal outposts of Homesh, Ganim, Kadim and Sa-Nur in the occupied territory in 2005.

The bill was passed by 31-18 votes in the 120-seat Knesset, the assembly said in a statement.

The evacuation of the outposts was part of a disengagement plan implemented by then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that saw Israel remove more than 9,000 settlers in 21 illegal settlements in the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank.

“The Disengagement Plan Implementation Law is meant to legitimize the uprooting and expulsion of some 10,000 people from their homes, livelihoods and fabric of life in the framework of the Disengagement Plan,” the bill reads.

The Knesset said the goal of the disengagement plan was not achieved. “Instead of being beneficial, it caused immense damage, accentuates the understanding of the injustice that was done to the citizens, whose evacuation and uprooting was legalized by the law.”

Estimates indicate about 650,000 settlers are living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the occupied West Bank.

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

*Ikram Kouachi contributed to this report.