Knesset approves 1st reading of bill to place heritage sites in occupied West Bank under direct Israeli control

The Knesset (Israel’s parliament) has passed the first reading of a bill that would place heritage sites in the occupied West Bank under direct Israeli control, Anadolu reports. A Tuesday statement by the Knesset said its members approved the bill on Monday evening. The measure “proposes to establish the direct responsibility of the state for the care of antiquities, heritage, and archaeological sites” in the West Bank by creating a body under Israel’s Heritage Ministry, the statement said. The bill also proposes to grant the body “all the necessary powers” to excavate, develop, and manage archaeological and heritage sites, as well as “expropriating and acquiring land for this purpose,” it added. READ: Israeli Knesset approves law to establish military court for Hamas […]