TEL AVIV (JTA) — Israel intends to make legal a bloc of unauthorized West Bank settlement outposts.
Plans to authorize the outposts near the Shiloh settlement came to light in the state’s response Tuesday to a Supreme Court petition that sought to evacuate Adei Ad, one of the larger outposts, because it was built on private Palestinian land, Haaretz reported Thursday.
Responding to the petition filed last year by Yesh Din, an Israeli legal aid group for Palestinians, the state announced plans to examine which parts of the outposts were built on state land and to legalize them. Structures built on private land will be demolished. According to Haaretz, local officials have received blueprints detailing the plans.
The outposts, which cover approximately 2 square miles and include hundreds of buildings, were built without state authorization in the 1990s.
Settlers in the outposts have been accused of violence against Palestinians. In 2014, the state opened 36 investigations of claims of violence in the area, and issued 11 indictments against 19 people.
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