Israel’s parliament has passed, in its first stage, a bill to formally annex the occupied West Bank into its own territory. If the bill is fully approved, this Palestinian land will be officially integrated into Israel, extending Israeli sovereignty over the region.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself has opposed the proposal. According to a report by Al Jazeera on Thursday (October 23), the Israeli parliament—known as the Knesset—has given preliminary approval to this controversial bill that seeks to apply Israeli sovereignty to the occupied West Bank. The move is effectively equivalent to annexing Palestinian territory and constitutes a blatant violation of international law.
In Tuesday’s vote, the 120-member Knesset passed the bill by a margin of 25 to 24. To become law, it will need to pass three more rounds of voting. Although Netanyahu and his Likud party opposed the bill, several coalition members and opposition MPs supported it.
The Knesset stated that the bill aims to “apply the sovereignty of the State of Israel to the Judea and Samaria region (West Bank).” The bill will now be sent to the parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for further discussion.
This vote comes at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump, just a month ago, declared that Israel would not be allowed to annex the West Bank. Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President JD Vance is visiting Israel to help sustain the Gaza ceasefire.
Netanyahu’s Likud party described the vote as “an opposition provocation,” warning that it could damage Israel’s relations with the United States. “True sovereignty is not achieved by symbolic laws but through concrete actions,” the party said in a statement.
Annexing the West Bank would effectively end any remaining possibility of a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
The move has triggered strong reactions from the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hamas, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, “We strongly reject the Knesset’s attempt to annex Palestinian land. The West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza constitute a single geographic entity over which Israel has no sovereign right.”
Hamas declared, “This bill exposes the colonial face of the occupying Israeli regime. The attempt to annex the West Bank is illegal and unacceptable.”
Qatar described it as “a flagrant violation of the historical rights of the Palestinian people and a challenge to international law.”
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said, “Riyadh firmly rejects all forms of Israeli settlement and expansionist activities by the occupying forces.”
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry called it “a blatant violation of international law, an obstacle to the two-state solution, and an infringement on the Palestinian people’s fundamental right to self-determination and statehood.”
Currently, more than 700,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem — areas that international law recognizes as illegally occupied.
