October 31, 2012

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two new settler outposts have been erected in the West Bank, with the approval of municipal authorities, Peace Now charges.

The two outposts include mobile homes, infrastructure, electricity, water and roads, and even air conditioning, the organizations said Wednesday in a report published on its website.

It is the first time since 2005 that new unauthorized outposts have been established with municipal support, according to Peace Now.

The new outposts are “Nahalei Tal,” northwest of Ramallah, and “Tzofim North,” adjacent to the Tzofim settlement north of Kalkilya and bordering the Israeli city of Kfar Saba.

Both outposts are built on state lands and are located within the municipal boundaries of existing settlements. The Tzofim  North outpost is located in the path of a court-mandated rerouting of the security fence, however.

“After the government rewarded the lawbreakers that built on private Palestinian lands in Migron and the Ulpana with alternative homes and other benefits, the government continues to make a mockery of the rule of law and to allow a radical minority to establish new outposts, which create facts on the ground that harm the possibility of an agreement with the Palestinians,” Peace Now said in a statement. 

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