Israel passes ‘emergency regulations’ bill for West Bank settlers

By Anadolu Staff

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Knesset (Israel’s parliament) on Wednesday passed a bill to extend emergency regulations for settlers living in the occupied West Bank for another five years.

The bill allows the application of Israeli law on settlers living in settlement blocs in the occupied territory, where it was first enacted in 1967 and has been renewed every five years.

Thirty-nine members of the Knesset voted in favor of the bill against 12, the Knesset said in a statement.

"The bill proposes to extend by five years the validity of the emergency regulations, which deal with the legal powers of the state authorities in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]," the statement said.

Palestinian lawyer Muhammad Dahleh earlier told Anadolu that the emergency regulations bill aims to give settlers living in the West Bank the same status of Israelis living in Israel.

The emergency regulations bill will benefit nearly half a million Israeli settlers who live in Israeli settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The bill was a reason for the fall of the former Israeli government of Yair Lapid in 2022 as it failed to pass it.

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

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar