Israel Hands Military Land to Jewish Settlers
The Israel government is working to enable new construction and has retroactively approved existing construction on private Palestinian land in more than 40 settlements, based on old expropriation orders that were issued for military purposes.
The efforts were revealed in the state’s response to a High Court of Justice petition filed by the Yesh Din – Volunteers for Human Rights organization regarding the non-enforcement of demolition orders issued for structures built in Beit El on private land.
In the submission to the court, the State Prosecution acknowledged that some 40 Israeli communities in the West Bank were erected totally or partially based on expropriation orders for private land issued for military purposes.
The prosecution admitted that construction continued in these communities even after the Elon Moreh ruling of 1979, which stipulated that the army had power to confiscate land only for pure military purposes, and not for civilian settlements.
For more, go to Haaretz.com
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