Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the removal of settler outposts in the West Bank that are not authorised by the Israeli state, according to two sources cited by Reuters. The move comes amid growing US pressure on Israel to address settler attacks against Palestinians.
The order concerns sites known as “outposts,” which were established without official Israeli state approval and usually consist of small groups of prefabricated homes or caravans. Ynet reported that the decision could affect around 100 such sites across the West Bank, although its exact scope remains unclear.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Netanyahu had ordered the evacuation of sites built in Areas A and B, where, under the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority exercises full or partial administrative control. No date has been announced for the operation to begin.
UN bodies and most countries consider all Israeli settlements illegal and regard the West Bank as occupied territory.
The distinction between these outposts and Israeli settlements officially recognised by the state is important. The outposts were established without the required state approval, although Israel has at times demolished some and retroactively legalised others. According to the Israeli organisation Peace Now, there are 340 such outposts in the West Bank, as well as 146 settlements officially recognised by Israel.
The decision follows a strong public intervention by US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, who described violent settlers as “terrorists” and called for serious consequences. On the same day, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered that three Palestinian families be allowed to return safely to the village of Jalud, from which they had been driven out by settlers.
Under international law, UN bodies and most governments consider all Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal and regard the territory as occupied. Israel rejects this interpretation and maintains that the West Bank is disputed territory.
Source: Reuters
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