The eventual passage of the so-called “formalization bill” in Israel’s Knesset would lead to the retroactive legalization of 55 illegal settlement outposts in the occupied Palestinian territory and the confiscation of more than 8,000 dunams of land, rights group Peace Now said in a report released on Tuesday.

The bill would see the legalization of Israeli outposts which are deemed illegal by both Israeli and international law, and would cause what the Israeli NGO called “grand land robbery.”

All Israeli settlements and outposts in the occupied Palestinian territory are deemed illegal under international law.

'Formalization bill' would legalize 55 outposts, seize 8,000 dunams of Palestinian land https://t.co/56jNWrDO43 pic.twitter.com/bRqKg3t8Ss

— The IMEU (@theIMEU) November 29, 2016

According to Peace Now, should the bill pass into law, 55 outposts composed built on 3,067 dunams (758 acres) of Palestinian land would become legal under international law.

The bill would also legalize 3,125 housing units inside settlements already recognized by Israel and expropriate 5,014 dunams (1,239 acres) of private Palestinian land, the group added, highlighting that these were conservative estimates and that the amount of land confiscated would likely be greater as the bill would pave the way for further land expropriation.

The bill has been introduced in the wake of an Israeli Supreme Court decision to demolish the illegal Amona outpost in the central occupied West Bank, a ruling that has been met with strong resistance by right-wing Israelis.

(Ma’an, PC, Social Media)