Disengagement law repeal advances, EU and UK condemn

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
15 Mar 2023 15:07

A new bill repealing the disengagement law passed in 2005 has passed in Knesset's first reading.

Saleh Abu Diab, a Palestinian resident of Sheikh Jarrah, takes part in a protest against his possible eviction after an Israeli court accepted Jewish settler land claims, in his neighborhood in Al-Quds on June 11, 2021 (Reuters).

Several EU member states, as well as the UK, denounced the Knesset's approval of a bill that will allow Israeli settlers to return to areas across the West Bank that were previously evacuated as part of the 2005 Israeli-known Disengagement Law, which represented the liberation of Gaza and the partial liberation of the West Bank.

The Palestinian foreign ministry denounced the Knesset's decision and called on the international community to denounce the bill as well, and to pressure the Israeli government to back down from the decision.

“Proceeding with steps to enact this legislation is a dangerous escalation in the conflict and a belittling of the efforts exerted to reduce tension and achieve calm,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said.

On Monday, a joint statement by the UK, France, and other EU countries, urged "Israel" to refrain from "demolishing Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank and East-al-Quds [Al-Quds] during the month of Ramadan,” as they referenced the forced evacuation of Palestinian families from the Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah.

The statement noted that the signatories found it "very worrying that Israeli authorities intend to continue" the domicide of Palestinians and declared their “strong opposition to Israel’s settlement expansion policy.”

Disengagement law repeal

In February 2023, the Israeli occupation's Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill revoking clauses of the 2005 Disengagement Law, which had led to the dismantling of four illegal Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, as well as all the settlements and military presence in the Gaza Strip.

At the time, The Times of "Israel" said that "the bill, which only relates to the parts of the law pertaining to the northern West Bank, is key to the current government’s goal of legalizing the illegal settlement outpost of Homesh."

On Monday, the bill passed its first reading in the Knesset, and the introductory text of the repeal read: “There is no longer any justification to prevent Israelis from entering and staying in the evacuated territory in northern Samaria [West Bank], and therefore it is proposed to state that these sections [of the disengagement law] will no longer apply to the evacuated territory.”