Israel's legalization of settlement in West Bank outrages Palestinians

RAMALLAH/GAZA - The Israeli parliament's vote to legalize settlement posts in the West Bank outraged the Palestinians on Tuesday, who warned that the vote would bring a global wrath against Israel.

On Monday night, the Israeli parliament voted in favor of legalizing 4,000 Jewish settlements that will be built on Palestinian-owned lands in the West Bank. 60 Israeli parliament members voted in favor and 52 voted against the bill, which drove the Palestinians furious.

Nabil Abu Rdineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in an official press statement that "this is an escalation that would only lead to more instability and chaos in the entire region." He called the Israeli Knesset vote "unacceptable."

He said that the Israeli decision violates the recent United Nations Security Council resolution 2,334, which condemned the Israeli settlement and called on Israel to halt it, adding that "Israel continues settlement expansion and building and neglects the international laws and resolutions."

The Israeli settlement expansion and building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem is the thorniest issue which obstructs the resumption of the bilateral peace negotiations.

Saeb Erekat, Secretary General of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said in an emailed statement that legalizing settlement "is dangerous and a legalized theft of the Palestinian land properties, even if the bill contains provisions to compensate the Palestinians or give them other land in exchange."