Israeli ministers reject bill to annex West Bank territories

An Israeli ministerial committee Sunday axed a controversial bill proposal to annex settlements in the West Bank situated on Palestinian territories and apply Israeli law unto them, a media report said.

The majority of the ministers voted against the bill, proposed by Miri Regev, a Likud parliament member, except for members of the settlers-oriented Jewish Home Party, who voted in favour of the bill, Xinhua quoted the Jerusalem Post in a report.

The hawkish and controversial bill suggested applying Israeli law to all the Israeli settlements located in the West Bank, on territories Israel annexed following the 1967 Mideast War, as well as the settlements' surround area and roads leading to them. It also charges that Israeli government should be prohibited from halting the construction in the settlements, amid the negotiations with the Palestinians.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have resumed in July after a three-year halt, mostly due to efforts put in by the US.