Netanyahu said to order 14 illegal outposts evacuated; PM’s spokesperson issues flat denial

A report Saturday claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered the evacuation of 14 illegal Israeli settlement outposts in the West Bank due to the involvement of their residents in extremist violence, though a spokesperson for the premier flatly denied the story.

The report by Channel 12 news came amid concern in the United States that repeated settler attacks could endanger US President Donald Trump’s plan for postwar Gaza.

The report stated that the security services view the outposts as sources of Jewish terrorism, and as “staging posts” for extremist settlers to attack Palestinian villages and civilians in the vicinity.

Some residents of such outposts are also thought to be responsible for recent attacks against the IDF and the Israeli police.

According to the report, the security services will seek to detain some 70 extremist activists and issue them with orders banning them from the West Bank. The network said restraining orders for varying periods of time had been issued for some 30 of them, with the number expected to increase.

The report also said that one conclusion from talks on the matter has been that the Shin Bet’s Jewish Division, which acts against terrorism perpetrated by Jews, needs to be expanded and boosted.

A spokesperson for Netanyahu denied that the prime minister had issued any order on evacuating outposts when asked by The Times of Israel, however, and the denial was repeated by a senior government official speaking to Channel 12.

Violence by extremist settler activists has erupted in recent months, especially beginning with the olive harvest season in mid-October, with numerous incidents of extremists beating Palestinian civilians and carrying out arson attacks and other forms of violence.

And dozens of illegal outposts have been established around the West Bank since the beginning of the war with Hamas in Gaza.

The heightened violence has generated international condemnation, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing concern last month over the attacks.

Netanyahu and the rest of his coalition have mostly been mum on the phenomenon. Critics accuse the government of tacitly backing the attacks, which have been taking place on a near-daily basis.

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order ending the sanctions regime established a year earlier by then-president Joe Biden against extremist settler individuals and entities.

Attacks have continued unabated since, including repeated raids of several Christian villages. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who is an ordained pastor, paid a visit to one of those towns in July and called for those targeting the village to be brought to justice, but no indictments have been filed to date.

Prosecution of such crimes by Israel is highly rare. The commander of the police’s West Bank division is under investigation for ignoring settler violence in order to curry favor in the eyes of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the police. The commander was still allowed to return to the police force, as the probe into his conduct continues.

The IDF and police have traded blame over Israel’s inability to rein in the phenomenon, while some security officials were quoted as privately faulting the government.

Jacob Magid and Charlie Summers contributed to this report.