Israel makes illegal outpost in Hebron a settlement 

The commander of the central region in the Israeli occupied army today issued a resolution to officially turn Edorim settlement outpost, built on Dura town lands south of Hebron, into a settlement, the Palestinian Information Centre reports.

The outpost’s settlers received the decision from the military commander who visited it today, noting that it was built on privately owned Palestinian land in the Majnouna area in Dura.

This came in implementation of a decision issued by the Israeli government last June in response to a request by the extremist Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, to legalise five random settlement outposts in the West Bank.

The settlement outpost was established in July 2021 by seven Jewish families who were later evacuated by the Israeli occupation forces, while it remained under the control of occupation forces.

The same plot of land, which belongs to families from Dura, was confiscated by occupation forces in the 1970s and the Edorim military base was built on it.

After the army evacuated the site in 2010, the “Hebron Mountain” settlement council established a regional emergency centre, and settlers then took control of it.

Under international law both outposts and settlements are illegal, however, Israel distinguishes between the two, with settlements considered legal and part of its ‘facts on the ground’ policy during talks with Palestinians regarding a future peace deal.

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