Israel’s supreme court on Wednesday agreed to a
government request to extend a deadline to demolish 15 settler
homes found to have been built partly on private Palestinian
land.
The deadline to demolish the homes in the Netiv Haavot wildcat
settlement outpost in the occupied West Bank had been March 6. It
has now been extended to June 15, according to a copy of the
ruling.
Judges ordered the houses in the settlement, located south of
Jerusalem, demolished in 2016. Some 50 families live in the
settlement.
On Sunday, Israel’s government approved a plan aimed at
legalising Netiv Haavot, though not the houses under a court order
to be demolished, with the aim of eventually building 350 homes
there, according to Israeli media.
The plan approved also reportedly includes some 60 million
shekels ($17 million, 14 million euros) in compensation for the
settlers living in the homes to be demolished and to provide
temporary housing for them.
All Israeli settlements are viewed as illegal under
international law, but Israel differentiates between those it has
approved and those it has not.
Settlements not approved, such as Netiv Haavot, are referred to
as outposts and residents hope to one day be granted
authorisation.
Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Settlements there are seen as major stumbling blocks to a peace
deal since they are built on land the Palestinian wants for their
future state.
Some 600,000 Israeli settlers live among nearly three million
Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Prominent members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
coalition openly oppose a Palestinian state.
AFP
Israel’s supreme court on Wednesday agreed to a
government request to extend a deadline to demolish 15 settler
homes found to have been built partly on private Palestinian
land.
The deadline to demolish the homes in the Netiv Haavot wildcat
settlement outpost in the occupied West Bank had been March 6. It
has now been extended to June 15, according to a copy of the
ruling.
Judges ordered the houses in the settlement, located south of
Jerusalem, demolished in 2016. Some 50 families live in the
settlement.
On Sunday, Israel’s government approved a plan aimed at
legalising Netiv Haavot, though not the houses under a court order
to be demolished, with the aim of eventually building 350 homes
there, according to Israeli media.
The plan approved also reportedly includes some 60 million
shekels ($17 million, 14 million euros) in compensation for the
settlers living in the homes to be demolished and to provide
temporary housing for them.
All Israeli settlements are viewed as illegal under
international law, but Israel differentiates between those it has
approved and those it has not.
Settlements not approved, such as Netiv Haavot, are referred to
as outposts and residents hope to one day be granted
authorisation.
Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Settlements there are seen as major stumbling blocks to a peace
deal since they are built on land the Palestinian wants for their
future state.
Some 600,000 Israeli settlers live among nearly three million
Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Prominent members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
coalition openly oppose a Palestinian state.
AFP
Read more https://nairalaw.com/israel-extends-deadline-to-demolish-15-settler-homes/