Hundreds of extremist Jewish settlers known as “Hilltop Youth” arrived on Saturday to Amona settlement near Ramallah city to resist the Israeli forces and police in case they start the implementation of the settlement’s evacuation plan according to Hebrew media.
The Israeli Supreme Court has issued in December 2014 a ruling stipulating the evacuation of the settlement after a Palestinian petition was submitted with the help of human rights organizations which provided documents proving that the settlement was built on a private Palestinian land. This contradicted the Israeli authorities’ claim that the land was originally a “state land”. However the Israeli government procrastinated in implementing the ruling.
The court then issued a final resolution to evacuate the settlement by 25th December 2016.
The Israeli settlers rejected last week a proposal from the Israeli government to be transferred to neighboring lands which were owned by Palestinian refugees who were displaced from their lands in the aftermath of the 1967 war. The lands were confiscated according to the absentee property law.
The Hebrew Channel Two said that the settlement is expected to be evacuated during the next few days before the deadline set by the government adding that the settlers of Amona left some of them there to resist any evacuation process carried out by the Israeli army.
The pro-settlers Hebrew channel 7 said that a crew of lawyers will be present in the settlement during the evacuation to monitor any abuses or violations by the security forces submit complaints on behalf of the settlers and defend those who might be arrested.
Meanwhile the number of Israeli soldiers who refuse to participate in the evacuation of Amona settlement in case they are sent orders is increasing.
Amona settlement was built in 1995 on a private Palestinian land without a permit from the Israeli government.
In 2006 the Israeli police demolished 9 houses there resulting in clashes with the Israeli settlers and their supporters.
The Israeli government considers the settlements built without a governmental permit as unofficial settlements while the international community considers all the Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem as illegal whether the Israeli government has approved their construction or not.
