The Israeli parliament has passed a controversial law, legalizing dozens of Jewish outposts built unlawfully on private Palestinian land in the West Bank.

"We are not voting tonight only on the regularization bill. We are voting tonight on our right to the land, on the continuous connection of 3,000 years.... We are voting tonight for the connection between the Jewish people and its land. This whole land is ours. All of it," Ofir Akunis, Israeli minister of Science, Technollogy & Space, said.

The law was approved by 60 members of parliament to 52 against. The vote is the latest in a series of pro-settler steps taken by Israel's hard-line government. Palestinians have slammed it as a means to "legalize theft" of land. And the law is expected to be challenged by Israel's Supreme Court, as it contravenes the rulings on property rights. The country's attorney-general has said it is unconstitutional and will not defend it on the court.