Off the wire
• Yuan stable, strong despite January weakening: central bank  • Sarkozy to stand trial over alleged political finances offenses: report  • Khamenei says U.S. threats not to intimidate Iran  • 2nd Ld: China's forex reserves fall to six-year low, still top of world  • Arab League condemns Israel legalizing settlements in West Bank  • France's 2016 budget gap at 69 bln euros, down 2.1 pct  • Urgent: 12 killed, injured as suicide bombing rocks Kabul  • EU council gives nod to extending border control in five Schengen countries  • China Focus: Beijing clearing space for its key functions  • LaLiga President defends decision to suspend Celta-Madrid game  
You are here: 　 Home

Israel's top court orders to demolish 17 illegal settler homes

Xinhua, February 7, 2017 Adjust font size:

Israel's Supreme Court ordered on Tuesday to demolish 17 illegal structures built on private Palestinian land in the West Bank.

Under the ruling, Israel will have to carry out the order by June 22, 2018.

The decision came in a petition filed by Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organization, on behalf of Palestinians from the nearby village of Yasuf.

The Palestinian residents charged that 18 settler homes were placed on privately-owned Palestinian plots.

The judge found that 17 of them were built on private land and the other one on a plot that Israel has confiscated.

The Israeli parliament approved on Monday night a law allowing Israel to confiscate privately owned Palestinian land in the West Bank, despite international criticism.

According to Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper, the new law is not expected to affect the demolitions because it covers only lands already confiscated before the hearing.

Both outposts and settlements are illegal under international law as they were built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War, where the Palestinians wish to build their future state. Endit