«Israel» Buttresses Its Al-Quds Bid, Passing New Legislation

Local Editor

A new "Israeli" bill aims to make it more difficult to cede part of al-Quds [Jerusalem] to the Palestinians, Haaretz newspaper reported.

The "Israeli" entity's lawmakers on Tuesday passed legislation requiring a two-thirds majority in the Knesset, the "Israeli" parliament, for the country to abandon control over any part of Jerusalem in favor of a foreign country, the Haaretz newspaper reported.

The bill has been backed by the entity's ruling right-wing coalition, with a 64-52 vote, which would seek to separate Palestinian districts from the jurisdiction of the current al-Quds municipality. The law would affect the areas of Kufr Aqab and the Shuafat refugee camp.

Many Palestinians hold permanent resident status in the city, which can be withdrawn any time for different reasons. Thus, according to the media, the bill would force them to leave the city.

The vote took place amid the tensions in Occupied Palestine heightened in the wake of US President Donald Trump's controversial decision to recognize al-Quds as the so-called "Israeli" capital, announced on December 6, which has triggered mass outrage in the Muslim community and numerous protests around the world. Hamas, the Palestinian resistance organization, has announced the beginning of the third "intifada."

In late December, the apartheid "Israeli" regime approved allocating some 40 million shekels ($11 million) for the occupied West Bank settlements, aiming to build 15 new settlement units, as well as new roads to the west, south and east of the "Ahia" settlement in the Palestinian village of Jalud, while more agricultural lands were reportedly being bulldozed in the area to clear the construction site.

However, the Trump decision was denounced by a UNGA resolution, rejecting the recognition. The UN General Assembly's vote has been, in turn, rejected by the entity's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming that al-Quds "always was, always will be" the country's capital and noting that many countries supported the entity.

In May 2017, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had issued a report, explaining that the biggest obstacle to meeting the "humanitarian needs" of the Palestinians is the "Israeli" entity's presence in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. According to the document, the amount of Palestinians displaced by home demolitions reached a new high of 1,600 in 2016.

About 600,000 "Israelis" currently live in over 230 illegal settlements built on Palestinian territories, which the entity has occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team