The Israeli parliament [official website] on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to the Formalization Bill, which would legalize settlement outposts in the West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [official website] had planned for the bill to be delayed in efforts to avoid US support [Reuters report] for a UN resolution against the settlement outposts. However, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation unanimously approved the bill [JURIST report] on Sunday and moved it to parliament. The Jewish Home and Likud parties [party websites], both right-of-center, supported the bill, but they have been met with opposition from other national as well as international entities. Israel’s attorney-general said he would be hesitant to advocate for the bill in any Supreme Court [official website] challenges, the US spoke out against the bill, and others have noted the effect it has on Palestinians’ efforts at establishing a state. The bill has multiple stages of voting ahead before becoming law.

Recent conflicts between Israel and Palestine [HRW backgrounder] over settlements in the occupied West Bank have raised concerns over possible human rights violations. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] Monday that a controversial West Bank settlement, Amona [Times of Israel backgrounder], must be dismantled by December 25. The Formalization Bill has been pushed, in part, in an effort to circumvent this ruling. In March the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said [JURIST report] that the office is concerned about the apparent extra-judicial execution of a Palestinian man in the West Bank. In January Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged businesses to cease operations [JURIST report] in Israel settlements. In August 2015 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged both sides of the conflict [JURIST report] to reconcile and move towards peace after an attack occurred in the West Bank village of Duma, where Jewish extremists allegedly set fire to a Palestinian home while a family slept inside.