The Israeli parliament on Wednesday approved a bill seeking to annex the occupied West Bank.
Parliament voted in the first of four legislation needed to pass the bill into law.
Members of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition have been calling for years for Israel to formally annex parts of the West Bank, a territory the Israelites claimed biblical and historical ties.
However, the Palestinian foreign ministry said Israel will have no sovereignty over Palestinian land, condemning the Knesset’s move.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that the occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, is a single geographical unit over which Israel has no sovereignty,” it said.
Palestinian militant group Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday that the Israeli votes on the West Bank and Maale Adumim bills reflected “the ugly face of the colonial occupation”.
“We affirm that the occupation’s frantic attempts to annex West Bank lands are invalid and illegitimate,” it said.
