New settlement outpost near Ramallah

Israeli sources claim that a number of Jewish settlers have established a new settlement outpost called “Mtsudt Harry”, next to the Jewish settlement of Atarh, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. This has been done ostensibly as a protest against the Israeli government’s intention to confiscate those lands for a Palestinian city called Rawabi.

Hebrew radio said that security sources “won’t allow settlers to sleep in the new point”. According to one of the settlers, “If the government give the Palestinians the land that belongs to Atarh, we will build a new settlement.”

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Rawabi is a new city to be built by the Palestinian Authority to accommodate at least 40,000 people as part of a “good intentions” initiative by the Israeli occupation authorities. Land currently used by illegal settlements will be used to build approach roads to the new city. This is the largest housing project planned by the PA since its creation in 1994. With an estimated cost of $700m, completion is due in 2014 on land located between Nablus and Ramallah.