The European Union (EU) on Tuesday blasted the Regulation Law, which the Knesset approved on Monday, urging Israel not to implement it.
The Regulation Law legalizes and protects thousands of Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria which were built with government backing and lacked absentee land claims, but against which there are now property claims.
Under the law, homes built on such properties will be allowed to remain, and owners with proven claims to the land will be given a choice of receiving an alternate plot of land or monetary compensation for 125% of their land's value.
"The European Union condemns the recent adoption of the 'Regularization Law' (sic)", the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Tuesday.
The law, she argued, "crosses a new and dangerous threshold by legalizing under Israeli law the seizure of Palestinian property rights".
The 28-nation EU "urges the Israeli leadership to refrain from implementing the law and to avoid measures that further raise tensions and endanger the prospects for a peaceful solution to the conflict", Mogherini added.
Her condemnation of the law came hours after the EU delayed a meeting between EU and Israeli officials long seen as a step towards mending strained relations, in response to Israel’s approval of the Regulation Law.
The summit, slated for the end of February, has now been postponed indefinitely.
French President Francois Hollande blasted the law as well, claiming that it would pave the way for annexation of Judea and Samaria, and even went so far as to demand that the Israeli government repeal the legislation.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres slammed the passage of the law, calling the move illegal under international law.
"This bill is in contravention of international law and will have far reaching legal consequences for Israel," Guterres said in a statement.