By Alaa Rimawi
JERUSALEM
Israel's Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Sunday approved a bill that would allow all laws passed by the Israeli parliament (Knesset) to be applied in the occupied West Bank.
Six ministers voted for the bill while four voted against, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
Under the bill, all laws passed by the Knesset would be applied to the occupied West Bank.
The move is expected to draw international condemnation, especially from the United States and Europe.
The bill would be referred to Knesset for approval.
"Today's bill only aims to give legitimacy to Israeli settlements in the West Bank," Emad Abu Awwad, a Palestinian researcher in Israeli affairs, told Anadolu Agency.
He said Israel aimed to turn its West Bank settlements into cities considered within the borders of the self-proclaimed Jewish state, not occupied territories.
The roots of the current conflict date back to 1917, when the British government, in the now-famous "Balfour Declaration," called for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."
Jewish immigration rose considerably under the British administration of Palestine, which was consolidated by a League of Nations "mandate" in 1922.
In 1948, with the end of the mandate, a new state – Israel – was declared inside historical Palestine.
As a result, some 700,000 Palestinians fled their homes, or were forcibly expelled, while hundreds of Palestinian villages and towns were razed to the ground by Jewish forces.
The Palestinian diaspora has since become one of the largest in the world. Palestinian refugees are currently spread across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other countries, while many have settled in refugee camps in the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip.
On May 15 of each year, Palestinians still commemorate the mass expulsion in 1948, which they refer to as the "nakba" or "catastrophe."
For many Palestinians, the right to return to their homes in historical Palestine – a right enshrined in U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194 – remains a key demand.
Since its establishment, Israel has continued to misappropriate Palestinian land in the West Bank – on which it continues to build numerous Jewish-only settlements – in breach of international law.
Palestinians demand the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, with East Jerusalem – currently occupied by Israel – as its capital.
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