Settler youths erect 14 illegal outposts in W. Bank

Hundreds of settler youths erected 14 illegal outposts in the West Bank yesterday as part of a campaign to show their strength after Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, a spokeswoman for the group said.

Datya Yitzhaki, a spokeswoman for the Land of Israel Faithful, said that a total of 25 new outposts, all of which would eventually become permanent communities, would be standing by the end of the Hanukkah holiday.

Yitzhaki, a former Gaza settler who helped erect the Maoz Yam outpost in Gush Katif, added that hundreds of youths had started to build wooden and stone houses and had pitched tents at sites close to a dozen older settlements.

"We intend to expand and build on these; we will build on what has been destroyed and show that settlement activity will resume," she said.

The outposts were erected alongside existing settlements, in the hope that such a move would increase the chances that the new enclaves would be recognized as legitimate neighborhoods instead of illegal outposts.

The largest outpost was set up next to the settlement of Beit El, where settlers say some 200 youths were working to raise structures.

Israel Defense Forces sources dismissed the developments in the West Bank, saying the youths were merely enjoying themselves at "a children's holiday resort that would eventually be disbanded," and that the military did not currently have plans to evacuate the outposts.

Under the U.S.-backed road map for peace with the Palestinians, Israel is supposed to remove dozens of settler outposts in the West Bank that have not been formally authorized by the government, but has failed thus far to do so.

"Settlement activities severely hurt Palestinian efforts to maintain calm," commented Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Abu Rudeineh urged Israel "to cease these activities and uproot the outposts."

	Settlers at a new illegal outpost that was set up yesterday on a hill between Elazar and Alon Shvut. (Tomer Applebaum / BauBau)