A group of Israeli settlers gathered at the Beit El military base near Ramallah Sunday night to protest the planned removal of an illegal settlement outpost in the northern West Bank, but Israeli troops went ahead with the removal of the outpost on Monday morning.The outpost, located near the Israeli government-approved settlement of Shilo, between the Palestinian cities of Nablus and Ramallah in the northern West Bank, consisted of four trailers set up in recent weeks by right-wing Israeli settlers associated with the ‘price tag’ movement.
According to members of the ‘price tag’ movement, the term refers to the indigenous Palestinian population, saying that they must ‘pay a price’ for every day that they remain on their land. The settlers involved in the movement believe that all of the West Bank and Gaza should be made part of Israel as part of a biblical prophecy.
The outpost in question was named ‘Givat Gal Yoseph’, and was recently established by the ‘price tag’ movement with the aim of annexing more Palestinian land for the Israeli state.
In recent weeks, right-wing Israeli settlers associated with the ‘price tag’ movement have stepped up attacks on Palestinians, Christian and Muslim holy sites and Israeli military bases and personnel.
The settlers claim that the Israeli military is a legitimate target for their attacks because it occasionally dismantled settlement outposts build illegally on stolen Palestinian land.
All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law, although the Israeli government considers almost all of the estimated 300 Israeli settlements to be ‘legal’ under Israeli law, and provides them with infrastructure including water, sewage, electricity and roads.
Those deemed ‘illegal’ by the Israeli government are occasionally dismantled, but more often, are allowed to establish themselves over a period of years, after which Israeli law requires that they be provided with infrastructure – in spite of the fact that they are constructed on illegally seized Palestinian land.
