The Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation is set to approve a bill on Sunday that would allow Tel Aviv to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank to East Jerusalem and establish a "Metropolitan Jerusalem" under Israeli sovereignty, in clear violation of international law and relevant UN resolutions.
The bill "proposes the creation of 'metropolitan Jerusalem,' which would incorporate nearby West Bank settlements, fully annexing them to Israel," the Haaretz daily claimed in its report on Friday.
It added that the Ministerial Committee for Legislation is expected "to approve on Sunday a bill that will enable the annexation of occupied West Bank settlements around Jerusalem."
According to Haaretz, the bill, if approved by the Knesset or Israeli parliament in its three legal readings, could establish a "metropolitan Jerusalem" that includes settlements in East Jerusalem such as "Ma'ale Adumim, Givat Ze'ev, Efrat, and Ma'ale Mikhmas."
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‘Illegal annexation’
If the bill is approved, it will pave the way for the right-wing government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to carry out more annexations of Palestinian lands.
The planned annexation "seeks to promote an illegal annexation under international law," the daily quoted a statement by the Israeli leftist Ir Amim rights group.
It added that the annexation move will divide the West Bank and "further isolate East Jerusalem and its residents from the Palestinian space."
The international community, including the UN, considers the Israeli settlements to be illegal under international law.
The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
