UPDATE - UN condemns Israeli settlements bill

UPDATES WITH COMMENT FROM UN, EU, FRANCE, PALESTINE

By Canberk Yuksel

NEW YORK (AA) - The head of the UN on Tuesday slammed an Israeli bill that provides immunity for illegal settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank.

“The Secretary-General deeply regrets the adoption of the so called ‘Regularization bill’ on 6 February by the Knesset,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. “This bill is in contravention of international law and will have far reaching legal consequences for Israel.”

The bill comes amid heightened anxiety in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after a new U.S. administration under President Donald Trump took office last month.

Since Trump was sworn in, Israel has announced three separate settlement plans that allows for thousands more housing units the UN and the international community deem illegal.

Trump has also pledged to move the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which would mean effectively recognizing Israeli claims on the city considered hallowed to all three Abrahamic religions. It would also deal a devastating blow to the two-state solution.

Last week, the Trump administration signaled a mild change of tone, calling on the Israeli government to halt construction of new settlements. It said, however, that the president does not have an official position on settlement activity.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are due to meet next week at the White House and are expected to clear the air on the new administration's policy.

Israeli authorities last Tuesday approved the construction of 3,000 new units in the West Bank after approving last month the construction of 3,066 Jewish homes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Approximately 500,000 Israelis now live in more than 100 Jewish-only settlements that have been built since Israel occupied the Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967.

The Palestinians want these areas -- along with the Gaza Strip -- for the establishment of a future Palestinian state.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the bloc condemned a law that “crosses a new and dangerous threshold by legalizing under Israeli law the seizure of Palestinian property rights and effectively authorizing the confiscation of privately owned Palestinian land in occupied territory.”

She said the law would legalize settlements and outposts previously considered illegal under Israeli and international law, adding that the development would “constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten the viability of a two-state solution”.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Palestine planned to continue to confront Israeli settlements in international institutions.

“This legislation violates international law and we will continue our work with international courts to protect our existence and survival on the land of Palestine,” he said in a joint news conference with French President Francois Hollande.

Hollande said the expansion of settlements “opens the way to their annexation” and called on Israel to reconsider the law.

* Sibel Ugurlu contributed to this report from Ankara.