At least 16 unauthorized Israeli settlement “outposts” have been established since 2017, a new Peace Now report has revealed, with authorities not only turning a blind eye to the expansion but even at times helping to retroactively “legalize” the outposts.
Israel makes a distinction between official and unofficial settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt); under international law, all settlements in the oPt are illegal.
According to Peace Now, a total of 31 such outposts have been established from 2012-2019.
Just since 2017, at least 16 "unauthorised" Israeli settlement "outposts" established across the occupied West Bank.
No sign of removal any time soon – on the contrary, Israeli authorities even openly support them in some cases.
And on it goes…https://t.co/LQEIIaGHI4
— Ben White (@benabyad) July 23, 2019
Haaretz newspaper, reporting on the data, said its journalists visited all of the new outposts “over the past few weeks”, and found that most “are various kinds of farms”.
The outposts are located all over the occupied West Bank, “from the regional council in the southern Hebron Hills to the northern West Bank, the Jordan Valley, Mateh Binyamin Regional Council and Gush Etzion.”
Director Shaqued Morag: We are on our way to a police investigation for "disturbing public order." Today we hung signs reading “illegal outpost" outside dozens of outposts. Yet those who built against the law, they aren’t being investigated #לא_חוקי_לא_ציוני @PeaceNowIL https://t.co/8SoTxnTVyx
— Peace Now (@peacenowisrael) July 22, 2019
Although none are legal, all were established on so-called “state land”, land in the oPt designated by Israeli occupation authorities as under its control.
Haaretz noted that “some of these outposts have indeed been issued demolition orders, but they are still standing”, adding that “illegal construction on state land can be retroactively legalized by the state”.
(Middle East Monitor, PC, Social Media)
