lennart
22-06-03, 12:23
Settlers have set up more than 10 outposts in last 2 weeks
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, speaking at the weekly
cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, said Sunday that
Israel can continue building in the territories,
“but should not celebrate the construction,
should just build.”
Sharon’s comments came
during a stormy cabinet
session, and followed a
proposal by National
Infrastructures Minister Yosef
Paritzky (Shinui) to relocate
settlers from the West Bank to
less populated parts of Israel,
such as the Negev or the
Galilee. Paritzky made his
proposal in an interview on Israel Radio, en
route to the world Economic Forum in Jordan.
Asked about the possibility of building extra
housing units in Ariel, a West Bank city with a
population of 17,000, he said that building was
possible.
Sharon responded to Paritzky's proposal by
saying that some comments made by ministers
overstep their authority.
Education Minister had even harsher words for
Paritzky. “He should concentrate on the
affairs of his own ministry,” she said,
“such as the residents of Dimona who had
their water cut off on Friday because the
municipality has not paid the Mekorot water
ocmpany.”
Ten new outposts
The Yesha settler council has set up more than
10 new illegal West Bank outposts, most of them
uninhabited, since IDF Central Command Chief
Moshe Kaplinsky handed settler leaders a list
of 15 outposts to be dismantled, just over two
weeks ago, council head Benzi Lieberman told
Haaretz over the weekend.
Lieberman would not reveal the location of the
new outposts, although he did name a few of the
better known ones, including the one near the
settlement of Neve Tzuf, north of Ramallah,
which was taken down for the second time on
Friday. The outpost was initially set up at the
spot where two Israeli women were shot and
seriously wounded in an ambush by Palestinian
gunmen earlier this month.
In the last two weeks, Lieberman said the army
had removed 10 uninhabited outposts and one
inhabited one - Mitzpeh Yitzhar in the Nablus
area, which was torn down Thursday amid clashes
between settlers and troops. Fifteen settlers
were arrested during the confrontation and two
remain in police custody.
Peace Now's Settlement Watch group says seven
new outposts have been erected since the
meeting with Kaplinsky.
The outpost near the settlement of Neve Tzuf,
which was taken down earlier last week, was
reestablished on Thursday. It was dismantled
for the second time Friday, when soldiers and
police evacuated some 50 settlers in buses.
The settlers had set up seven tents at the site
and placed a generator and water tank there.
Oded Stern, a resident of the settlement of
Neve Tzuf, said he and his fellow settlers
would return to rebuild the outpost as long as
the IDF continued to pull down outposts
elsewhere in the West Bank.
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, speaking at the weekly
cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, said Sunday that
Israel can continue building in the territories,
“but should not celebrate the construction,
should just build.”
Sharon’s comments came
during a stormy cabinet
session, and followed a
proposal by National
Infrastructures Minister Yosef
Paritzky (Shinui) to relocate
settlers from the West Bank to
less populated parts of Israel,
such as the Negev or the
Galilee. Paritzky made his
proposal in an interview on Israel Radio, en
route to the world Economic Forum in Jordan.
Asked about the possibility of building extra
housing units in Ariel, a West Bank city with a
population of 17,000, he said that building was
possible.
Sharon responded to Paritzky's proposal by
saying that some comments made by ministers
overstep their authority.
Education Minister had even harsher words for
Paritzky. “He should concentrate on the
affairs of his own ministry,” she said,
“such as the residents of Dimona who had
their water cut off on Friday because the
municipality has not paid the Mekorot water
ocmpany.”
Ten new outposts
The Yesha settler council has set up more than
10 new illegal West Bank outposts, most of them
uninhabited, since IDF Central Command Chief
Moshe Kaplinsky handed settler leaders a list
of 15 outposts to be dismantled, just over two
weeks ago, council head Benzi Lieberman told
Haaretz over the weekend.
Lieberman would not reveal the location of the
new outposts, although he did name a few of the
better known ones, including the one near the
settlement of Neve Tzuf, north of Ramallah,
which was taken down for the second time on
Friday. The outpost was initially set up at the
spot where two Israeli women were shot and
seriously wounded in an ambush by Palestinian
gunmen earlier this month.
In the last two weeks, Lieberman said the army
had removed 10 uninhabited outposts and one
inhabited one - Mitzpeh Yitzhar in the Nablus
area, which was torn down Thursday amid clashes
between settlers and troops. Fifteen settlers
were arrested during the confrontation and two
remain in police custody.
Peace Now's Settlement Watch group says seven
new outposts have been erected since the
meeting with Kaplinsky.
The outpost near the settlement of Neve Tzuf,
which was taken down earlier last week, was
reestablished on Thursday. It was dismantled
for the second time Friday, when soldiers and
police evacuated some 50 settlers in buses.
The settlers had set up seven tents at the site
and placed a generator and water tank there.
Oded Stern, a resident of the settlement of
Neve Tzuf, said he and his fellow settlers
would return to rebuild the outpost as long as
the IDF continued to pull down outposts
elsewhere in the West Bank.