Knesset passes bill applying Israeli law to West Bank

On October 22, Israel's parliament approved a bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, per Reuters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party did not support the legislation, which was put forth by lawmakers outside his ruling coalition and passed by a vote of 25-24 out of 120 lawmakers. A second bill by an opposition party proposing the annexation of the Maale Adumim settlement passed by 31-9.

Some members in Netanyahu's coalition - from National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism faction - voted in favour of the bill, which would require a lengthy legislative process to pass ultimately.

Members of Netanyahu's coalition have been calling for years for Israel to formally annex parts of the West Bank, territory to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

Israel argues the territories it captured in the 1967 war are not occupied in legal terms because they are on disputed lands, but the United Nations and most of the international community regard them as occupied.

In 2024, the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, and its settlements there are illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible.

The Palestinian foreign ministry said Israel will have no sovereignty over Palestinian land, condemning the Knesset's move.

Palestinian militant group Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday that the Israeli votes on the West Bank and Maale Adumim bills reflected "the ugly face of the colonial occupation".

By Khagan Isayev