Israel Orders Evacuation of Settlement Outpost Built on Palestinian Lands

A Palestinian man sits in defiance of Israeli forces during protests against the settlement outposts in Beita village. (dpa)
A Palestinian man sits in defiance of Israeli forces during protests against the settlement outposts in Beita village. (dpa)
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Israel Orders Evacuation of Settlement Outpost Built on Palestinian Lands

A Palestinian man sits in defiance of Israeli forces during protests against the settlement outposts in Beita village. (dpa)
A Palestinian man sits in defiance of Israeli forces during protests against the settlement outposts in Beita village. (dpa)

The Israeli army announced Wednesday a decision to evacuate an “illegal” settlement outpost built on Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank within a period of eight days.

Israelis set the Evyatar settlement outpost in Beita village, south of Nablus, and constructed buildings and facilities there.

According to the army decision, no construction materials are allowed into the town during this period.

It said it will demolish the buildings after this period if settlers don’t evacuate them voluntarily.

Settlers have constructed several houses in the outpost, in addition to building concrete houses in the past days and paving roads between them.

The local official in Beita Municipality, Moussa Hamayel, described the army’s decision as “good.”

“Protests will continue until the decision is implemented on the ground,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

“We don’t want to see more victims from the town’s citizens,” he stressed, noting that more than 30 have been injured so far.

For the fourth consecutive day, the Israeli army continued to seal the entrance to Beita village, which is home to some 16,000 Palestinians.

The village residents had succeeded throughout the years in evacuating outposts that settlers tried to build on their lands through waves of popular protests.

Two were shot dead by the army and dozens were injured during recent protests, the Palestinian Health Ministry announced.

According to Hamayel, citizens are preparing to organize a protest march against this outpost on Friday.

“No matter how great the sacrifices are, our struggle will continue until this outpost is evacuated,” he stressed.



Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.