08 February 2017•Update: 08 February 2017
By Kaamil Ahmed
RAMALLAH, Palestine
Palestinian legal rights groups are planning to challenge a controversial new law on Israeli settlements in Israel’s Supreme Court on Wednesday.
In a joint statement, Israeli-Arab NGO Adalah and the Jerusalem Legal Aid Center said they plan to lodge a formal petition on behalf of Palestinian local councils in the occupied West Bank, the main target of Israeli settlement building.
"The primary aim of this law is to 'validate' more illegal settlements in the West Bank," Adalah attorney Suhad Bishara said in the statement.
"These political considerations directly contradict the UN Security Council resolution [number 2334] passed on Dec. 23, 2016, which reconfirmed the illegality of Israeli settlements," Bishara added.
Along with allowing 50 illegal outposts in the occupied West Bank to be retroactively approved under Israeli law, the new legislation -- passed by Israel's parliament on Monday -- also allows for Palestinian land to be seized for the construction of Israeli settlements in a clear breach of international law.
The law has drawn widespread criticism from Palestinians and the international community, which see it as threatening a "two-state solution" to the perennial Palestine-Israel dispute.
Having voiced opposition to the law earlier, Israeli Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit is now considering testifying against the legislation, according to Israel's Channel 2 television network.
Mandelblit reportedly believes that the law will serve to increase the chances of Israel being investigated by the International Criminal Court.
