Court warns it may force criminal probe into illegal settler building
At issue are 20 housing units in 14 permanent buildings, some of which are duplexes
By TOVAH LAZAROFFIsraeli flag is seen.(photo credit: RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS)
The High Court of Justice has warned that it may begin a criminal investigation into the activities of the Binyamin Regional Council with respect to illegal settler building in the Hayovel outpost, located within the municipal boundaries of the West Bank settlement of Eli.On Sunday, it issued an injunction in response to a Peace Now petition against the construction of 20 illegal homes, in which the left-wing NGO asked the court to force the police to carry out a criminal investigation after its own requests on the matter to the state and the police’s anti-fraud unit went unheeded.“This is the first time the court has issued an injunction order on the issue with respect to the obligation of the enforcement authorities to launch an investigation into illegal construction in the settlements,” Peace Now said in response.It is a “clear message to law enforcement authorities that there is no longer any more room for the immunity once granted to the leaders of the settlement movement who acted as they saw fit and against the law, to create facts on the ground that have impacted the future of the entirety of the State of Israel,” Peace Now said.“We hope the message will finally be heard and the lawlessness in settlements and outposts will finally cease,” Peace Now said.Among those named as defendants in the petition are: the IDF, the police, the Attorney-General’s Office, the State Prosecutor's Office, the Binyamin Regional Council, the Eli Council and the grounds, development and infrastructure company involved in the project.At issue are 20 housing units in 14 permanent buildings, some of which are duplexes. The project began in 2016 and is now nearing completion. The outpost itself was first created in 1998 and is now home to some 40 families.The High Court of Justice’s injunction is the second one in less than two weeks against illegal settler building. Last week, the court voided as unconstitutional the controversial Settlements Law designed to retroactively legalization unauthorized settler building on private Palestinian land in exchange for monetary compensation.According to Peace Now, the 20 homes in the Hayovel outpost, would not have been subject to that law.
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