Ramallah: The Palestinian National Office for Defence of the Land and Resistance to the Settlements (colonies) has criticised a newly-approved Israeli law which will allow Israeli military court rulings in the occupied West Bank to be admitted as evidence in Israeli civil courts.

The office, which is affiliated to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), said in a strongly-worded statement that Israel is perpetuating its occupation in the West Bank and creating a new reality on the ground.

To date, the rulings of Israeli military courts in occupied West Bank have not been recognised in Israel, and Israeli law has not been applicable in occupied West Bank. The entire Palestinian occupied territory has been under the purview of the Israeli Defence Forces Central Command, the head of which issues decrees and military orders.

“Recognising the rulings of the military courts is undoubtedly [an attempt to perpetuate] the annexation of the West Bank, as the rulings of those military courts do not take Israeli law into account,” said the statement. “This law is meant to apply Israeli legislation in the Palestinian territories, perpetuate occupation and apply Israeli sovereignty over the Palestinian occupied territories.”

The office warned Palestinians to expect more such laws in the near future.

“Today, the reform committees held discussions about applying Israeli building and planning laws in the occupied territories. We are talking about a creeping annexation. This bill to recognise military verdicts contradicts the legal system that has always been in place,” Osama Al Sa’adi, a member of the Joint Arab List at the Israeli Knesset, was quoted by the Israeli media as saying when commenting on the bill.

The Arab bloc at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, rejected the law for being blatantly unconstitutional.

Israel’s Attorney General, Avichai Mendelblit, criticised the law, saying the Knesset has been warned of possible repercussions abroad.

“A ruling by a court that is not authorised to rule in Israel, including the rulings of a military court, cannot be used as evidence in a civil procedure in Israel,” he told the Israeli Higher Court of Justice in an official letter after the law had passed its first reading.

Noting examples of bias and hypocrisy in rulings by the Israeli military courts in occupied West Bank, the statement by the National Office for Defence of the Land and Resistance revealed that the head of Israel’s Finance Ministry Department, which enforces planning and construction laws, Avi Cohen, lives in Palgei Mayim, in the colony outpost Eli.

The Israeli military courts in occupied West Bank have approved building licenses for housing units in outposts, as recommended by Cohen. Palgei Mayim itself had been marked for demolition by the Israeli Supreme Court, but the military have not followed through on the decision.

The Israeli government has approved more than 150 “official” and government approved colonies, but does not recognise a further 100 unauthorised outposts, which have fanned out around occupied West Bank.

All Israeli colony construction in occupied West Bank is considered illegal by the international community.