Israel postpones outpost eviction

The outpost was not authorised by the Israeli government

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has decided to postpone the evacuation of the Jewish settler outpost at Amona in the West Bank, Israeli reports say.

The eviction, planned for next week, was postponed for two weeks when the settlers appealed to the High Court.

On Wednesday, Israeli troops clashed with settlers as they demolished an outpost near Neve Daniel.

The US-brokered "roadmap" peace plan demands Israel uproot all West Bank outposts built since March 2001.

The international community considers all settlements in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

Outposts such as Amona were also built without authorisation from the Israeli government.

Appeal

The Amona outpost was built in 1996 on private Palestinian land on a hilltop north of Ramallah. Around 30 families live in caravans on the site.

Mr Mofaz promised to demolish nine new permanent homes there by the end of January following a ruling by the High Court in November.

The settlers claim they had permission to build the homes.

Their appeal will be heard on Wednesday.

Battle

The leading organisation representing Jewish settlers, the Yesha Council, said they were suspicious of Mr Mofaz's decision.

"We continue to prepare as if the evacuation will take place on Monday night, since we have still not received any official announcement on the matter," it said.

Their slogan protesting against the demolition of the outpost reads: "The battle to save Judea and Samaria begins in Amona."

The demolition is expected to be an even larger operation than the one at Neve Daniel earlier this week, when troops clashed with 150 protestors.

The Yesha council hopes thousands of settlers will join their demonstrations, while Israeli authorities are planning to deploy some 1,000 police.