The Israeli Parliament (Knesset) has approved in the first reading the bill that will place the heritage sites in the occupied West Bank under the direct control of Israel, reports Anadolu.

In a statement today, the Knesset said that its members approved the bill on Monday evening. The measure “proposes to establish direct state responsibility for the care of antiquities, heritage and archaeological sites” in the West Bank by creating a body under Israel’s Ministry of Heritage, the statement said.

The bill proposes to give the body “all necessary powers” to excavate, develop and manage archaeological and heritage sites as well as to “expropriate and purchase land for this purpose,” it added. it.

The bill must pass second and third readings before becoming law.

In February, Israel’s Security Cabinet ordered the repeal of a law banning the sale of Palestinian land to Jews in the West Bank, opening up land ownership records and transferring building permit authority from the Palestinian municipality to Israel’s civil administration.

Over the past few years, Palestinian organizations and international sources have shown that the Israeli government is seeking to annex the West Bank as a matter of fact through a series of settlement measures without an official declaration of annexation.

In a landmark opinion in July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

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Source: prizrenpost