Illegal outpost re-established south of Bethlehem – report

Israeli settlers have re-established an illegal outpost south of Bethlehem, the Peace Now organization reports.

The hilltop community known as Tekoa E currently consists of two makeshift buildings built by a small group of youths over the past month, roughly two kilometers from the Tekoa settlement. It is located on what is considered to be state land, but beyond the borders of Tekoa. Israel considers such wildcat outposts to be violations of Israeli law.

The outpost was first established in the summer of August 2014 in what the Gush Etzion Regional Council called a “response” to the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli yeshiva students by Palestinians affiliated with Hamas. Several weeks later, the handful of mobile homes were evacuated after the settlers reached an agreement with the Defense Ministry to leave peacefully in exchange for the retroactive legalization of the nearby Tekoa D outpost.

“In recent years, under [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s government, we have seen intensive activity to restore the widespread phenomenon of illegal outposts deep inside the West Bank. Beyond the blatant and wholesale violation of the law, these moves to put facts on the ground seriously undermine the chances of a future [peace] agreement and must be stopped immediately,” Peace Now says.

— Jacob Magid