Thaindian News

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BNO NEWS) — Israel on Monday ordered to demolish all illegal West Bank outposts on private Palestinian land by the end of 2011, the Haaretz newspaper reported.

Israeli Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser said that the decision was made in response to a petition submitted by the non-governmental organization Peace Now. The group demanded Israel to put into effect a demarcation order already issued on six West Bank outposts.

The Ramat Gilad, Mitzpe Yitzhar, Givat Har’eh, Givat Asaf, Ma’aleh Rehavam and Mitzpeh Lachish outposts are built on “survey” land which means that the legal owner of it has not been determined yet.

Earlier this month, the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered the immediate dismantle all illegal outposts built on private land, with the exception of a residence owned by slain Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer Eliraz Peretz.

Israel has not set a timetable for the demolitions to begin. At the same time, the Israeli government will begin to legalize illegal outposts built on state land. According to Israel, more demolitions of illegal structures were carried out against Israelis than among Palestinians in the West Bank.

Peace Now said on Monday that the number of outposts that the government mentioned was not accurate. The organization added that the Israeli obligation under the Roadmap (2003) is to remove all outposts established after March 2001.

According to a Peace Now’s count, the number of outposts that requires removal is 45, not 6. The group considered this a clear violation of Israel’s Roadmap obligation regarding outposts.

Only a small portion of land in the West Bank is formally registered as the Ottomans did not invest in land registration and when the British came in, they established a registration process that was lengthy and costly, and which was kept in place by the Jordanians.

In this way, most Wet Bank land owners did not go through the registration process. In 1968, after Israel captured the region following the 1967 war, Israeli authorities closed the process by which Palestinians could register land, making it impossible for land owners to register their ownership.

On February 18, the UN Security Council held a vote on a resolution to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem area. Fourteen Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution but the U.S. voted against it.

The U.S. vote vetoed the resolution as it has the power to block draft resolutions due to being one of the five permanent council members. Prior to the voting, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected a compromise offered by the U.S. in exchange for the withdrawal of the draft resolution.

U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton said that the U.S. opposes new Israeli settlements but the UN Security Council resolutions are not the right vehicle for advancing negotiation between Israel and Palestine.

Palestine demanded a stop to settlement construction in the disputed East Jerusalem and West Bank area as a key element for continuing peace talks with Israel. However, the Jewish country continued construction despite the condemnation from the international community.