Israeli ministers approve draft bill to legalise outposts

Israel's ministerial committee for legislation on Sunday approved a controversial draft bill aimed at legalising wildcat Jewish settlements built on private Palestinian land, parliamentary sources said. The bill must now pass through three readings in parliament and also be ratified by the supreme court before it can become law. Sunday's vote was rushed through the ministerial committee in an attempt to prevent the evacuation of the Jewish wildcat outpost of Amona in the Israeli-occupied West Bank by the end of the year.