UN rights chief urges Israel to reconsider bill to legalise outposts

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Thursday urged Israel to reconsider a bill that might legalize its outposts in the occupied West Bank.

The passing of the bill would further deprive the Palestinians of their land and their livelihoods, the high commissioner said.

He stressed that if adopted, the bill would allow the retroactive "legalization" of so-called Israeli outposts constructed on privately-owned Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.

The Bill was approved by the Knesset, or the Israeli parliament, at the first of three readings on Wednesday.

"In enabling the use of land privately-owned by Palestinians for Israeli settlements without the owners' consent, this legislation would violate international law according to which Israel, as the occupying power, must respect the private property of Palestinians, regardless of whether or not compensation is provided," the high commissioner said.

"I strongly urge lawmakers to reconsider their support for this bill, which if enacted, would have far-reaching consequences and would seriously damage the reputation of Israel around the world," he added.

According to figures provided by the UN, at present at least 570,000 Israeli settlers live in some 130 settlements and 100 outposts in the West Bank, and initial work of some NGOs showed that the new bill would clear the way for the potential retroactive legalization of 55 illegal outposts and approximately 4,000 housing units in settlements and outposts built on over 800 hectares of private Palestinian land. Endit