Settlers residing in the illegal settlement outpost of Mirgon, built on privately-owned Palestinian lands near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, said that they will resist their eviction, and will not cooperate with the Israeli military.Originally, an Israeli court ordered the eviction of the settlers by March 31 2012, but the army never evicted it, and the government tried to reach an agreement with the settlers despite the fact that their outpost is illegal under Israeli law.
Israeli daily, Maariv, reported that, Israeli Cabinet Secretary, Zvi Hauser, visited the alternate location set by the government to the settlers on a nearby hill, and said that all preparations are nearly done, and that the site is ready to receive the evicted settlers.
Commenting on threats to use violence against the army during the eviction, Israeli official – former Chief of Staff, Moshe Yaalon, stated that those who resist the eviction will be excluded from the understanding reached with the government, and thus, will not be relocated in the new settlement, Givat Hayakev.
On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated in a special cabinet session that the government will respect the ruling of the High Court regarding the eviction, but added that Israel will continue to support settlement construction and expansion in the West Bank.
It is worth mentioning that Israeli High Court justice, Asher Gronis, will be looking into claims filed by 17 settler families who said that they bought their land from their Palestinian owners, therefore, the state cannot legally evict them.
