Israel passes preliminary bill to annex the occupied West Bank

Israel's parliament has narrowly passed a preliminary reading of a bill to annex the occupied West Bank, a significant step towards applying Israeli sovereignty over the territory. Introduced by the far-right Noam party, the legislation aims to make settlement areas an inseparable part of the state. Interestingly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's own Likud party criticized the timing, calling it a "show-off law" intended to embarrass the government. This legislative push follows a separate, more detailed plan from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to annex the vast majority of the West Bank and dismantle the Palestinian Authority.