A bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank—effectively annexing lands Palestinians intend to use for a future state—received preliminary approval in the Israeli parliament on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

The vote was the first of four required for the bill’s passage and coincided with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance’s visit to Israel, a month after President Donald Trump stated he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party did not support the bill, which was proposed by lawmakers outside his ruling coalition. It passed by a narrow margin of 25 to 24 out of 120 parliament members.

A second bill from an opposition party, proposing annexation of the Ma’ale Adumim settlement, passed 31 to 9. Some Netanyahu coalition members—from National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist faction—voted in favor. Final approval of both bills will require a lengthy legislative process.

For years, members of Netanyahu’s coalition have called for Israel to officially annex parts of the West Bank, citing biblical and historical claims. Israel asserts that territories captured in the 1967 war are not legally occupied because they are disputed lands, though the United Nations and most of the international community consider them occupied.