Jerusalem, May 05: Israel’s Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the state 90 days to explain why it had failed to carry out an order to demolish an unauthorised settlement outpost built on private Palestinian land.
In 2005 the government destroyed several buildings in the Amona outpost in the occupied West Bank, but since then much has been rebuilt and no further action has been taken despite repeated orders.
The three-judge panel asked the state “to explain within 90 days why the state will not enforce the demolition orders issued for the compound in question.”
Israel considers settlements built without government approval to be illegal, while the international community considers all settlements in the West Bank — which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War — to be illegal.
The settlement issue is one of the thorniest between Israel and the Palestinians and has held up for weeks proposed new, indirect talks, which now are expected to start within days.
Wednesday’s court order was issued in response to a petition from the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din on behalf of Palestinians who claim the outpost stands on their private land.
“It is clear that the state and the settlers will use any and every excuse to delay the return of these lands to their Palestinian owners, but Yesh Din will stand by the complainants until their property is given back”, the group said.
Under the 2003 international “roadmap” peace plan, Israel committed to dismantling outposts erected since March 2001 and a government commission later determined there were 26 such wildcat settlements in the West Bank.
Watchdog groups say there are dozens more such unauthorised outposts.
Successive prime ministers made commitments to remove them, which despite strong US pressure have yet to be honoured.
—Agencies