Israeli occupation 'legalizes' nine settlement outposts in West Bank

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
13 Feb 2023 00:34
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The Israeli occupation's Ministerial Committee for Legislation approves a bill revoking clauses of the 2005 Disengagement Law.

An illegal Israeli settlement near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Feb. 3 (AFP)

The Israeli occupation security cabinet on Saturday approved the "legalization" of nine illegal Israeli settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, which were established by settlers without the approval of Israeli governments, Israeli media reported.

The Israeli news website Ynetnews said, "The decision came after a more than five hours-long meeting."

It pointed out that Israeli occupation Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir "produced a list of 77 illegal outposts but nine were chosen."

Walla! also indicated that the cabinet decided to supply dozens of settlement outposts with water and electricity and plans to approve the building of some 10,000 units in existing illegal settlements.

Occupation approves a bill revoking clauses of 2005 Disengagement Law

In a related context, the Israeli occupation's Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill revoking clauses of the 2005 Disengagement Law, which had led to the dismantling of four illegal Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, as well as all the settlements and military presence in the Gaza Strip.

According to The Times of "Israel", "The bill, which only relates to the parts of the law pertaining to the northern West Bank, is key to the current government’s goal of legalizing the illegal settlement outpost of Homesh."

The news website indicated that the bill will now move to the Knesset for a preliminary reading on Wednesday and will need three additional votes to pass into law.

It added that the High Court justices doubted that the "Homesh" settlement outpost could be "legalized" since it is built largely on private Palestinian land.

This comes despite US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claiming Washington's opposition to expanding illegal Israeli settlements, demolitions and expulsions, and disturbances to the status quo of holy sites.

In early January 2023, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said the US opposes the Israeli government’s efforts to "legalize" the "Homesh" settlement outpost in the northern West Bank.

"Our call to refrain from unilateral steps certainly includes any decision to create a new settlement, to legalize outposts or allowing buildings of any kind deep in the West Bank adjacent Palestinian communities or on private Palestinian land," Price said when asked about the outpost during a press briefing.

He indicated that "the Homesh outpost in the West Bank is illegal. It is illegal even under Israeli law."