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Israel approves additional 3,000 settlement homes in West Bank Israel evicts Amona settlers as 3,000 new homes approved elsewhere
(about 11 hours later)
Israel has announced plans to build 3,000 new homes in West Bank settlements, pressing forward with a construction binge that began after the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president. After years of foot-dragging and political controversy, Israeli security forces have begun to evict several hundred Jewish settlers from an illegal outpost built on private Palestinian land, even as ministers announced the approval of thousands more settlement homes in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The announcement comes as Israel prepares to uproot an illegal settlement outpost in the West Bank. It appears to be aimed at calming settler anger over the impending court-ordered evacuation of the Amona outpost, which was built two decades ago on private Palestinian land. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline coalition is dominated by settlers and their allies. Hours before the operation to seal the outpost of Amona, Israel announced 3,000 new homes in the West Bank settlements, pressing forward with the massive surge in settlement triggered by the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president.In total, 6,000 new settlement homes have been announced since Trump’s inauguration. Next week, Israel’s parliament is expected to vote on a bill to allow the “legalisation” of a tranche of other illegal outposts built on private Palestinian land.
In a late-night statement on Tuesday, Israel’s defense ministry said the latest construction was approved by the defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, and prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. It comes days after the government approved an additional 2,500 homes in the West Bank and hundreds more in East Jerusalem. The fate of Amona has long threatened to destabilise Benjamin Netanyahu’s narrow coalition, which includes the far-right pro-settler party Jewish Home and other hardliners who are opposed to its demolition.
The Palestinians claim both areas, occupied by Israel in the 1967 war, as parts of a future state. Hundreds of settler youths had gathered to oppose the demolition at Amona on Wednesday morning.As dawn broke, dozens of security personnel were seen approaching the hilltop outpost to move out residents. A bulldozer and water cannon were brought up as residents were told to pack up their belongings.
The international community considers settlements illegal. But Trump has signaled that he will abandon the policies of his predecessors and be far friendlier toward settlements. He has appointed a prominent US supporter of the settlements to be his ambassador to Israel, and a delegation of settler leaders was invited to his inauguration. About 250 people in 50 families live in Amona, but in recent weeks dozens more people have arrived to face off against Israeli forces. Residents had said they planned to resist their evacuation peacefully.
This has emboldened Netanyahu, who repeatedly clashed with President Barack Obama over settlements, to announce a series of construction plans over the past week and a half. The Trump White House has remained silent, a dramatic departure from the vocal condemnations issued by Obama. “This is a dark day for us, for Zionism, for the state and for the great vision of the Jewish people returning to its homeland,” Avichay Buaron, a spokesman for Amona, told Channel 2 TV.
“We are in a new period in which life in Judea and Samaria [the term Israel uses to refer to the West Bank] is back on track,” Lieberman said in a statement. Bezalel Smotrich, a lawmaker from the Jewish Home party, who went to Amona to show support, added. “There is a great pain, a huge disappointment. They are uprooting a community in Israel. It is a terrible thing.”
Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House on 15 February, and the two men are expected to seek understandings on Israeli construction plans for the West Bank.
The announcement followed a military order, dated Monday, for residents of Amona to evacuate the area within 48 hours. Israeli media said residents could be removed as early as Wednesday morning.
Israel’s supreme court ruled in 2014 that Amona was built on private Palestinian land and must be demolished. It has set 8 February as the final date for it to be destroyed.Israel’s supreme court ruled in 2014 that Amona was built on private Palestinian land and must be demolished. It has set 8 February as the final date for it to be destroyed.
Amona is the largest of about 100 unauthorized outposts erected in the West Bank without permission but generally tolerated by the Israeli government. Amona is the largest of about 100 unauthorised outposts erected in the West Bank without permission but generally tolerated by the Israeli government. The outpost, built in the 1990s, stretches out over a rugged, grassy hilltop and looks out across the valley on to Palestinian villages.
The outpost, built in the 1990s, stretches out over a rugged, grassy hilltop and looks out across the valley on to Palestinian villages.
The Ynet news site said Israeli forces had cordoned off the outpost, but hundreds of youths managed to infiltrate to resist the impending evacuation.
In 2006, Israeli police demolished nine homes at Amona, setting off clashes pitting settlers and their supporters against police and soldiers. Several dozen trailers have remained and the outpost has become a symbol for the settlement movement.
Its fate has threatened to rupture Netanyahu’s narrow coalition, which is dominated by ultranationalists who support settlements.
Netanyahu has struggled to find a balance between appeasing his settler constituents and respecting Israel’s supreme court, which has drawn the ire of hardliners by ruling against the settlers.Netanyahu has struggled to find a balance between appeasing his settler constituents and respecting Israel’s supreme court, which has drawn the ire of hardliners by ruling against the settlers.
In 2006, Israeli police demolished nine homes at Amona, setting off clashes pitting settlers and their supporters against police and soldiers. Several dozen trailers have remained and the outpost has become a symbol for the settlement movement.
The international community – reinforced by a UN security council resolution in December – considers settlements a “flagrant violation” of international law and an obstacle to peace and a two-state solution.
But Trump has signalled that he will abandon the policies of his predecessors and be far friendlier toward settlements. He has appointed a prominent US supporter of the settlements to be his ambassador to Israel, and a delegation of settler leaders was invited to his inauguration.
This has emboldened Netanyahu, who repeatedly clashed with Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, over settlements, to announce a series of construction plans over the past week and a half. The Trump White House has remained silent, a dramatic departure from the vocal condemnations issued by Obama.
Netanyahu is scheduled to meet Trump at the White House on 15 February, and the two men are expected to seek understandings on Israeli construction plans for the West Bank.
Associated Press contributed to this report