The European Union said Thursday it is concerned by reports of Israeli settler plans to establish several new outposts in the occupied West Bank.
“There are today 150 illegal outposts in the West Bank,” it tweeted, noting that outposts often serve to establish or further expand illegal Israeli settlements and are a potential direct source of increased settler violence against Palestinians.
“Settlements and outposts are illegal under international law and constitute a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution,” it added.
On Wednesday, thousands of settlers organized marches towards the West Bank, expressing their determination to set up random settlements, amid the support of right-wing parties in the government and opposition.
Israeli forces evacuated day-old encampments and detained several activists on Thursday morning after thousands of far-right settlers affiliated with the Nachala settler organization attempted to set up five new outposts across the West Bank on Wednesday.
The evacuation put a stop to a campaign the movement had been preparing over the course of recent months.
The illegal settler organization announced it had raised five million shekels (about $1.5 million) to finance the campaign.
Ahead of the operation, the military and police issued a joint statement, warning that establishing outposts in the West Bank without the necessary permits “is illegal and forbidden” and warning that security forces “will act to prevent illegal activities in order to ensure their central mission, preventing and thwarting terror.”
Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked took to Twitter to criticize what she said was a violent evacuation of the makeshift outposts.
“The police should save their energy to eradicate real crime in the country,” Shaked wrote.
Public Security Minister Omar Bar-Lev charged back at Shaked for her remarks, arguing that “a senior minister in the government should not encourage breaches of law and criminal activity on the backs of dedicated police officers – only because she is desperate to flatter her base and pass the electoral threshold.”
