Israel approves 3,000 settler homes to appease hardliners over outpost eviction

Far-right Israeli lawmaker Moti Yogev described the demolition of the Amona wildcat outpost as 'a bad decision' but said the new settler homes announced late on Tuesday were some compensation

Israeli settlers burn tires and block an entrance ahead of the upcoming eviction of the illegal Jewish settlement of Amona, in the West Bank, 01 February 2017. Israeli police have deployed 3,000 policemen around the settlement ahead of the upcoming eviction. EPA/ABIR SULTANShow less

AMONA, WEST BANK // Israeli police began evicting dozens of hardline Jewish settlers from a wildcat outpost on Wednesday, just hours after unveiling plans for 3,000 new homes in other West Bank settlements.

The announcement of new settler homes late on Tuesday was the fourth since US president Donald Trump took office less than two weeks ago having pledged strong support for Israel.

Hours later, thousands of police officers moved in to carry out evictions at the Amona outpost after the Israeli high court determined the homes were built on private Palestinian land.

Far-right lawmaker Moti Yogev, whose Jewish Home party is part of Israel’s governing coalition, was present for the evictions.

He described the demolition of the outpost as “a bad decision” but said the new settler homes announced by the Israeli defence ministry the night before were some compensation.

“Yes, Amona will be destroyed, but against Amona we are going to build 3,000 new homes,” he added.

The eviction operation marked the end of months of attempts by government hardliners to legalise the outpost near Ramallah.

There were fears of violence after hundreds of hardline supporters of the settlers slipped past army roadblocks on foot and lit tyres around the outpost.

Some threw stones at the media as residents started packing their belongings.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said there were around 3,000 officers in and around Amona to move the 42 families

and another 600 people who were not from the outpost but had arrived for the eviction.

Protesters said that they would not leave willingly but that they would not resort to violence against the police.

According to police, however, officers were “attacked by anarchists with materials that made their eyes burn”, with a number of officers lightly injured.

The Obama administration despaired of Israel’s accelerating settlement expansion which it regarded as the biggest obstacle to Middle East peace.

But since Mr Trump took office with top aides sympathetic to settlement building, the Israeli government has announced a string of new projects that will add more than 6,000 homes for settlers – 566 in three settlement neighbourhoods of annexed east Jerusalem, and the others in the occupied West Bank.

And, in a significant break with the Obama administration, Mr Trump’s White House has not condemned any of the expansions announced since he took office.

According to the Israeli defence ministry, 2,000 of the new homes announced on Tuesday night are ready to be put on the market, while the rest are in various stages of planning.

On Thursday last week, Israeli officials gave final approval for 153 settler homes in east Jerusalem which had been frozen under pressure from the Obama administration.

“We are building and we will continue building,” Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week.

* Agence France-Presse