Israel's top court postpones eviction of illegal West Bank outpost

Israel's top court accepted on Thursday the government's request to postpone the eviction of the illegal West Bank outpost of Amona by 45 days.

The government asks the Supreme Court for the extension as part of its efforts to reach a compromise with the settlers, in which they would agree to evacuate the unsanctioned outpost that was built on private Palestinian land.

Pushing the original Dec. 25 deadline, a panel of three justices said that the houses will have to be demolished by Feb. 8.

"This is the last and final extension, even if no alternative solution is found or another," the justices wrote in the decision.

A deal was reached Sunday between the government and the settlers to relocate the settlers to a nearby plot on the same hill, on land declared by Israel as "abandoned." In return, the settlers agreed to evacuate peacefully.

However, the new plot is also claimed to be a private Palestinian land and its landowner petitioned to the court.

Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group, said the deal was a "corrupt agreement between the Government of Israel and lawbreakers" and called on the government to respect the court's order without further delays.

Amona, located east of the city of Ramallah, is the largest among the so-called "illegal outposts," communities built by far-right Israelis without permits from the government.

There are about 100 unauthorized outposts and 120 settlements that Israel considered as 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