Palestinians ask court to halt work on new Amihai settlement

The new settlement is surrounded by a number of outposts, and for the last two decades local Arabs have complained to the police about the constant illegal infiltration of settlers.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Updated: OCTOBER 20, 2017 02:16
Construction at the Amihai settlement (photo credit: TOVAH LAZAROFF)
Construction at the Amihai settlement
(photo credit: TOVAH LAZAROFF)
Palestinians from the villages of Jalud and Qaryut are seeking an injunction from the High Court of Justice to halt construction work on the new settlement of Amihai.
They argued that the land status had not been properly evaluated and that one-quarter of the property belongs to their villages.
The placement of the settlement harms the fabric of Palestinian life in the Shiloh Valley, stated the petition, filed with the help of the NGOs Haqel and Bimkom. It was authored by attorneys Netta Amar-Shiff and Qamar Mishirqi.
The new settlement is surrounded by a number of outposts, and for the last two decades local Arabs have complained to the police about the constant illegal infiltration of settlers onto private property in the area.
In addition, the petition said, the creation of the settlement was a “grave breach” of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The Palestinians filed the petition one day after the Civil Administration issued the final permits for the construction of the settlement in the area of Shiloh. Amihai is the first Jewish community created by the government on Judea and Samaria in more than two decades.
The settlement was initially designed for the 40 families who were forcibly evicted from the Amona outpost in February. The High Court of Justice had ordered the demolition of the community near the Ofra settlement because it was built without permits on private Palestinian property.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman visited the site on Wednesday and said that the cranes and bulldozers digging into the ground were proof that this government was developing communities in Judea and Samaria