MIDDLE EAST: Israel Supreme Court orders evacuation of the largest illegal outpost in the occupied West Bank, rejecting a government petition for the settlers to remain on the land until 2015

Record ID: 860241

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Israel Supreme Court orders evacuation of the largest illegal outpost in the occupied West Bank, rejecting a government petition for the settlers to remain on the land until 2015
  • Date: 26th March 2012
  • Summary: MIGRON SETTLEMENT, WEST BANK (FILE) (REUTERS) PALESTINIAN VILLAGE BURQA / MIGRON SETTLEMENT
  • Embargoed: 10th April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel, West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3PJ0UOYX4WSN7K5LI1HGZFC47
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Israel's Supreme Court on Sunday (March 25) gave Jewish settlers four months to evacuate the largest illegal outpost in the occupied West Bank, rejecting a government petition to allow them to stay on the Palestinian-owned land until 2015.
    "All must adhere to the law and this is the moment of truth," the court said.
    Migron is one of more than 100 outposts built without Israeli government authorisation in the West Bank. The court had ruled previously that Migron had been erected on privately-owned Palestinian land and had ordered the government to evacuate it by March 31.
    Director General for the anti-settlement advocacy group Peace Now is satisfied of the court's decision.
    "We are satisfied with the decision of the Supreme Court to reject the deal between the government and the settlers. The land of Migron should go back to it's owners the Palestinians and this is what the Supreme Court decide. Not only that the Supreme Court made it very clear that the law is a law and the settlers are not above the law and should obey the decision of the Supreme court," Director-General of Peace Now Yariv Oppenheimer told Reuters Television.
    In order to avoid a forcible evacuation, the government reached a deal earlier this month with Migron's 50 families under which they agreed to move down the road to a nearby settlement by November 2015.
    But in its latest ruling, the court rejected that agreement, saying the settlers must leave by August 1 this year, giving them only a four-month extension from the original March 31 evacuation date.
    "The desire to be considerate of the plight of Migron residents, which should not be taken lightly, cannot come at the expense of the plaintiffs and the rule of law," the ruling said.
    While the United Nations deems all Jewish settlements in the region to be illegal, Israel backs 120 official settlements, home to about 310,000 people.
    Though never officially sanctioning the outpost, the government has spent at least 4 million shekels ($1.1 million) on maintaining the cluster of mobile homes at Migron. Migron settlers have long maintained they were encouraged by the state to live there.
    About 500,000 Israelis and 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war that Palestinians want for a future state together with the Gaza Strip.
    ENDS.
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