Court orders demolition of 17 outpost homes

The Samaria Regional Council said that the homes could be relocated to other property lots within the outpost.

FEBRUARY 8, 2017 03:46

The West Bank Jewish settlement of Ofra is photographed as seen from the former Jewish settler outpost of Amona. (photo credit: REUTERS) — The West Bank Jewish settlement of Ofra is photographed as seen from the former Jewish settler outpost of Amona.

(photo credit: REUTERS)

The High Court of Justice on Tuesday ordered the demotion by June 2018 of 17 settler home in the West Bank outpost of Tapuach West that were built on private Palestinian property.

It issued its ruling in response to a petition by the NGO Yesh Din, on behalf of the Palestinian landowners from the nearby village of Yasuf.

The ruling came, just one day, after the Knesset has authorized a bill to legalize such homes.

The court, however, rejected the rest of Yesh Din’s petition which had called for the demolition of the entire outpost.

It noted that the state planned to authorize the small community, the remainder of which is built on state land or on survey land, whose status is now under investigation.

It added that it wanted updates on the plan, but otherwise it had not objection to the plan.

The Samaria Regional Council said that the homes could be relocated to other property lots within the outpost. It added that the new community would be part of the Kfar Tapuach settlement.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked lauded the court’s decision.

Yesh Din said in response, “We regret that the High Court is enabling this outpost to continue to stand; its very existence leads to constant violation of human rights of the Palestinian residents of the nearby village. The ruling proves that the Government of Israel’s policy is one of land grab, preventing Palestinians from enjoying even the most basic of rights, best demonstrated by legislation of the regulation (hasdara) law yesterday.”

Separately, the members of the Amona community, who lost their homes last week when the state destroyed the outpost they had lived toured the Binyamin region.

They were looking for a new location for their community.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised that the government would authorize a new settlement for them.