New date set for Migron settlement evacuation

 (JTA) – Israel’s Supreme Court has decided that the evacuation of an illegal West Bank settlement must be held by August 21.

The judges granted the government request today to postpone the eviction of the Migron, home to about 50 families, until August 21, according to Haaretz. An earlier postponement had decided the date would be August 31. 

The state requested that the delay not take place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan amid worries of “price tag” reprisal attacks by settlers, which could have inflamed tensions with Palestinians, according to Haaretz. 

Supreme Court justice Edna Arbel recently said that “the request for a delay today, is preparation for another request to delay next month.”

In March, the Supreme Court ruled against an attempt by the government to postpone to 2015 the demolition of Migron, which the Palestinians say is built on their land. Deferrals against the demolition stretch back to 2006. 

The settlers, who deny that Migron is built on private Palestinian land, had signed a deal with the Netanyahu government agreeing to relocate to a nearby hill over the next three years.

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