Israeli settlers seek to legalise West Bank settlement by building new homes

Israeli settlers have begun construction of new buildings in the illegal Israeli settlement of Amona in the north of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, Israeli sources said on Wednesday.

The sources said: “The settlers constructed two new buildings in the Amona outpost, which was built on land owned by Palestinians.”

Constructing more buildings, the sources said, might be used to push for legalising the outpost and thwarting efforts aimed at evacuating settlers there.

The Amona outpost was built in 1996 on private Palestinian land on a hilltop north of Ramallah. It began with ten caravans inhabited by young settlers from the Ofra settlement.

By 2005, some thirty settler families were living in Amona. The Israeli government officially considered it illegal. However, it has been expanding under the support of senior officials such as acting minsters.

In 2006, the Israeli High Court ruled that Amona was an illegal outpost and had to be dismantled.

To implement the ruling of the High Court, Israeli Defence Minister, Shaul Mofaz, ordered the Israeli forces to evacuate nine caravans. Clashes between settlers and Israeli soldiers erupted and caused dozens of injuries in both sides.

Last Friday, settlers from the settlement threw stones at Palestinians protesting against the Israeli Separation Wall in the West Bank.