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Israeli gov't to offer Amona settlers new land in West Bank

Xinhua, December 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Israeli government drafted a deal to relocate residents of the unauthorized West Bank Jewish outpost of Amona to an adjacent site in return for a non-violent evacuation, an official said Monday.

The settlers of Amona have been threatening to violently resist to the evacuation, which the Supreme Court ruled that must be carried out by Dec. 25.

Additionally, hundreds of calls to attack Palestinians and Palestinian property "to avenge" the evacuation were posted on social networks over the past days.

Head of the pro-settler Jewish Home faction and education minister, Naftali Bennet, said the deal would be presented to the residents of Amona later on Monday.

"I believe we could get the consent of the Amona residents to peacefully relocate to a new lot on the Amona Hill," Bennet said in a video statement.

The deal was drafted in a meeting on Monday between Bennet, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, and the Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.

Under the deal, the settlers will sign an agreement in which they commit to a non-violent evacuation, and in return, the state will allocate tens of dunams near the current outpost.

A senior government official told Ha'aretz newspaper that the deal was drafted following Netanyahu's concern that a violent evacuation would bring a string of hate crimes against West Bank Palestinians.

He noted that the attacks could be followed by Palestinian counter-attacks and a broad escalation in the West Bank, the official said.

The Supreme Court ruled that Amona must be evacuated before the end of the year because it was illegally built on private Palestinian lands.

Amona, east of Ramallah city, is the largest among the so-called "unauthorized outposts" built by far-right Israelis without permits from the government. There are about 100 unauthorized outposts, and additional 120 settlements that Israel considers legal.

Both outposts and settlements are illegal under international law as they were built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War. Endit