Israel Stalls on Illegal Settlements
Two illegal West Bank outposts set to be evacuated by the end of the year have a reprieve.
The Israeli government informed the Supreme Court that the Givat Asaf outpost will be demolished in July, and that Amona will be demolished by December 2012. Both northern West Bank outposts are built on private Palestinian property.
The Migron outpost is still scheduled to be demolished by March, the state reportedly told the court. Israel also will remove some homes in the Ramat Gilad and Mitzpe Yitzhar outposts that are built on private Palestinian land.
The government has been looking for ways to make outposts constructed on state land legal. But in response to several lawsuits in the Supreme Court by Israeli human rights organizations, it agreed to demolish outpost buildings, including homes, on privately owned Palestinian land.
A Supreme Court-ordered demolition of homes in the Amona outpost enforced by the government in February 2006 sparked a confrontation between settlers and police that turned violent.
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