Palestinian leaders accused Israel of "legalizing theft" with a law that retroactively approved thousands of illegal settlement homes in the occupied West Bank on Monday night.
Lawmakers in the Knesset voted 60-52 to approve the retroactive legalization of outposts which had been built on private Palestinian land and had been considered illegal under both international law -- as all settlement activity is -- and Israeli law.
"This law is unacceptable and runs counter to UN Security Council Resolution 2334," Palestinian presidency spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said in a statement.
Adopted in December in a 14-0 vote by Security Council members, the resolution condemned Israeli settlement activity as illegal.
Abu Rudeineh called on the international community to shoulder its responsibility toward halting Israeli settlement activity in the occupied territories.
"This law would lead to more instability and chaos," he warned.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Saeb Erekat, for his part, said the law reflects Israel's insistence on undermining peace efforts.
"Nobody should have doubts about the Israeli government's will to destroy any chances for a political solution." Erekat said.
'Apartheid state'
Issawi Freij, an Arab member of Knesset, warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government "was folly seeking to turn Israel into an apartheid state.
"The Israeli government not only violates international law that condemns the settlement building, but also ignores the worldwide position against it," he said.
The law had been pushed by the Israeli right-wing and settler movement after the High Court last year ordered the eviction of the illegal Amona outpost, which was dismantled last week.
The Jewish Home party lawmaker Nissan Slomiansky claimed the bill supported settlers who had not realized they had built on private land.
It passed despite Attorney-General Avichai Mandelbilt's opposition to the law who reportedly refused to defend it against legal challenges, arguing it could increase the chances of Israel being investigated by the International Criminal Court.
Israeli NGO Yesh Din, which has campaigned in courts against settlement building on Palestinian land, called the law "unlawful" and "immoral" and sanctioning "landgrab and rewarding thievery."
"Both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense have called it a mistake, and the Attorney General deemed it unconstitutional; yet the government continues to yield to the settlers," the group said in a statement.
