(AhlulBayt News Agency) - The Regulation Bill seeks to retroactively authorize 55 settlements and 4,000 housing units in privately-owned territories in the West Bank.
The legislation was passed by 60 votes to 49. It will be put to a second vote later on Tuesday, with a total of three readings needed for it to become a law.
The draft stipulates that the outposts were built without the knowledge that the land had an owner and thus in good faith.
If adopted, it will allow the government to reclaim land if owners are not known, leaving them with the option of receiving damages or plots elsewhere.
The right-wing Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett lauded the parliamentary approval as a step away from establishing a Palestinian state and toward "a path of extending sovereignty to Judea and Samaria".
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog said it was a dark day for the parliament and warned the government it was committing a national suicide.
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