Last update - 00:00 26/11/2007
Ariel settler-city to evict Gaza settlement evacuees next year
By Haaretz Service
The municipality of the settlement-city of Ariel plans to evict from temporary caravan homes a number of former residents of the evacuated Gaza settlement of Netzarim, Mayor Ron Nahman said Monday.
The eviction is slated to take place in five months, Nahman told Army Radio.
The former Netzarim settlers said they had only recently succeeded in purchasing land on which to build permanent homes in Ariel, but were then notified by the Defense Ministry that as a result of a sweeping freeze on settlement activity announced ahead of this week's Annapolis conference, they would be unable for the time being to begin construction.
The freeze was also to include Israel's declaration of willingness to dismantle illegal West Bank settlement outposts.
In recent weeks, the United States has been demanding that Israel make significant gestures on settlements and outposts prior to the conference, to compensate for its refusal to discuss the "core issues" of a final-status agreement until after the conference ends. These gestures are meant to make it clear that Israel does not intend to remain in the territories, and understands that its presence there is only temporary.
According to the Israeli government sources, the Americans asked Israel whether it preferred to announce a settlement freeze or outpost evacuations. "Of the two, a settlement freeze is easier than evacuating the outposts, because this only involves a declaration, not a confrontation with settlers in the field," explained one.
Related articles: