The US on Friday called on the Israeli government to prevent the return of settlers to the Homesh illegal outpost in the northern occupied West Bank, consistent with the commitments it made to Washington, the US Embassy in West Jerusalem said in a statement.
“The United States strongly urges Israel to refrain from allowing the return of Israeli settlers to the area covered by the legislation passed in March, consistent with both former PM [Ariel] Sharon's and the current Israeli government's commitments to the United States,” it said.
According to the Embassy, at least one of the outposts in this area, Homesh, was illegally built on private Palestinian land.
“We have been clear that advancing settlements is an obstacle to peace and the achievement of a two-state solution,” the embassy statement affirmed.
“This certainly includes creating new settlements, building or legalizing outposts, or allowing building of any kind on private Palestinian land or deep in the West Bank adjacent to Palestinian communities,” it added.
Homesh was one of four Jewish settlements in the northern West Bank that were evacuated as part of the 2005 disengagement law.
Two months ago, Israeli lawmakers repealed the 2005 act in an overnight vote 31-18 in the 120-seat Knesset to allow the four abandoned Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank to be re-established.
The Gaza Disengagement Law was approved by the Knesset during the reign of Ariel Sharon's government in 2005. It forced Israel to pull out from the Strip and from four settlements in the West Bank, and to evacuate 8,000 settlers from 21 Jewish settlements.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies are pushing for a return to the four settlements in the West Bank and to rescind important parts of the 2005 disengagement law.
On Thursday, Israel Hayom newspaper said it learned that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has instructed the Israeli Army Central Command Yehuda Fuchs to sign a decree that could allow Jewish residency in the former settlement of Homesh in northern Samaria thus fully implementing a controversial measure to lift the restrictions under the 2005 Gaza Disengagement Law.
“Gallant's decision is one of major security and political significance that has prompted the Israeli Army to prepare for boosting forces in Homesh and mobilizing forces to protect civilians who will now be legally allowed to visit the area after almost 20 years,” the newspaper wrote.
Also, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a hardline settler whose responsibilities also include authority over settlement construction, has a plan to move the Torah Institute built in “Homesh” on private Palestinian lands, to a nearby common land that Israel intends to confiscate from the Palestinians.
The minister’s move would lay the foundation stone for the re-establishment of the settlement, while the Israeli Supreme Court is unable to intervene.
His plan came despite Netanyahu’s promise to the US there would be no changing to the status quo in the Homesh outpost. The PM had also pledged not to allow the return of settlers.
Meanwhile, the US State Department on Thursday condemned what it called “outrageous and unacceptable” violence and racist behavior at the annual Jerusalem Day Flag March.
“The United States unequivocally opposes racist language of any form. We condemn the hateful chants such as ‘Death to Arabs’ during today’s marches in Jerusalem,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller wrote on Twitter.
