Israel votes to scrap law that barred settlers from 4 sites

Israel's Parliament on Tuesday repealed legislation that barred settlers from four Jewish communities in the occupied West Bank that were evacuated in 2005, a preliminary move for now, but one that comes as tensions rise over government efforts to assert greater control over Palestinian territories.

The action, which will now allow visits to the settlements, is of great symbolic importance to the settler movement, but it is unlikely to mean any immediate new construction.

The Israeli military, which has overseen the West Bank since it was conquered from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war, first has to approve access to the site for settlers at a highly volatile time in the region. The Israeli government then would need to approve any reconstruction in the areas.

While the new legislation is seen as only a first step, at least for the moment, it comes amid a spike of Israeli-Palestinian violence in the occupied West Bank, and increasingly inflammatory rhetoric about Palestinians by members of the governing right-wing coalition who support the country's settler movement. The United States has urged Israel to avoid unilateral measures that could exacerbate tensions with the Palestinians.

The amendment, which was introduced by right-wing lawmakers in December, was approved by a vote of 31-18 in the 120-seat Parliament. It took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning, when many lawmakers were absent. It is just one of many pieces of divisive legislation that the government is trying to push through the legislature.