Israel settlers impose conditions on voluntary evacuation of Hebron building

Illegal Israeli settlers currently occupying a building in Hebron have said they will leave voluntarily “if the state agrees to demolish an adjacent storage facility that they claim Palestinians built there recently”, reports Haaretz.

The condition was communicated to the Israeli Supreme Court on Sunday, as well as a demand “to be able to station their own guards at the building until a final decision is made on the building’s rightful ownership”.

According to Haaretz, “the final decision on the matter is to [sic] expected issued by a committee from Israel’s Civil Administration in the West Bank”.

The settlers told the court that they would “accede to the conditions, which had been proposed in a recent court hearing, ‘despite the painful concession involving vacating the building with all of the psychological aspects involved even if it means vacating for a short period, as the [settlers] hope’”.

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They claim that they purchased the building in question from a Palestinian six years ago, while the Palestinians “claim that the purchase was invalid, arguing that even if the building was purchased, it was only bought from one of a number of heirs to the site”.

A land registry committee of Israel’s occupation administration “rejected the settlers’ claim and ruled that the property belong to the Palestinians”. The settlers appealed, “but no ruling has yet been made by the initial committee.”

In 2012, settlers broke into the building and were evicted. Since July of this year, settlers have again taken over the building.