Oz Zion is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank. It falls under the purview of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this. [1]
Oz Zion was founded sometime after 2005 and is therefore not listed in the Sasson Report. [2] It has been repeatedly evacuated and demolished by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Border Police (IBP) since its founding.
In November 2011, Israeli police and IDF soldiers arrested twelve settlers out of dozens who were throwing stones at them in an attempt to prevent the removal of three illegal structures in Oz Zion. [3] In both January [2] and February 2012 forces from the Israeli Civil Administration destroyed structures in Oz Zion. [4] In May 2012 security forces demolished two structures in Oz Zion, one of which was inhabited. [5]
On December 29, 2012, a group of hundreds of settlers drove off IDF and IBP forces who were attempting to dismantle structures at Oz Zion. [6] Five members of the Border Police were wounded in this attack. [7] The IDF and IBP returned the next day, evicted 20 residents of the illegal outpost, and destroyed a number of structures. [8] The outpost was subsequently rebuilt and destroyed by security forces again in March 2013 and in April 2013. [7]
As of December 2012, according to settler activist Daniella Weiss, there was one family living at Oz Zion and "a steady group of teens and young adults who man the outpost." [8]
Oz Zion is located close to Highway 60, near Giv'at Asaf and Beit El. [8]
Beit El or Beth El is an Israeli settlement and local council located in the Binyamin Region of the West Bank. The Orthodox Jewish town was settled in 1977–78 by the ultranationalist group Gush Emunim. It is located in the hills north of Jerusalem, east of the Palestinian city of al-Bireh, adjacent to Ramallah. In September 1997, Beit El was awarded local council status. The head of the local council is Shai Alon. In 2022 its population was 6,108.
Amona was an Israeli outpost in the central West Bank. Located on a hill overlooking Ofra within the municipal boundaries of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, the village was founded in 1995 on privately owned Palestinian land. As of 2012, its population was around 200. As of October 2013, the outpost lodged 42 families. It was evacuated completely in February 2017 in compliance with a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court.
Yitzhar is an Israeli settlement located in the West Bank, south of the city of Nablus, just off Route 60, north of the Tapuach Junction. The predominantly Orthodox Jewish community falls under the jurisdiction of Shomron Regional Council. In 2022, it had a population of 2,093.
Ma'ale Rehav'am is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank, located south of Bethlehem and northeast of Hebron in the northeastern Judean Mountains on Road 3698 in the eastern Etzion bloc. Its mother community, the settlement of Nokdim is administrated by the Gush Etzion Regional Council, which lists Ma'ale Rehav'am as a separate "community" on its official website.
Elazar is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, 18 kilometers south of Jerusalem in the Gush Etzion cluster of settlements. A community settlement, it had a population of 2,615 in 2022. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, although the Israeli government disputes this.
Homesh was an Israeli settlement in the West Bank along Route 60, just south of the Palestinian towns of Silat ad-Dhahr and Fandaqumiya, illegally built over private Palestinian land. The settlement was under the administrative jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council. In 2005, the settlement homes were demolished along with three other settlements in the northern West Bank, at the same time as the Israeli disengagement from Gaza.
Migron is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank, located within 2 km of a former outpost by the same name, that was relocated to its present site on 2 September 2012. The outpost was located 14 kilometers north of Jerusalem, it fell under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. It was the largest outpost of its kind, with a population of 300. The council says it was founded in 1999 and re-founded in 2001, on land registered before 1967 by the villagers of Burqa. The Israeli government contributed NIS 4.3 million from the Construction and Housing Ministry to build Migron. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, whereas Israeli outposts, like Migron, are considered illegal not only under international law but also under Israeli law.
In Israeli law, an outpost is an unauthorized or illegal Israeli settlement within the West Bank, constructed without the required authorization from the Israeli government in contravention of Israeli statutes regulating planning and construction. In Israeli law, outposts are distinguished from settlements authorized by the Israeli government. This distinction between illegal outposts and "legal" settlements is not endorsed by international law, which considers both a violation of the norms, governing belligerent occupations, applicable to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Adei Ad is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank. Located near Shvut Rachel and Qusra, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. A resident of Adei Ad says that the outpost includes about 40 families. Adei Ad gained international attention in January 2015, when residents allegedly engaged in throwing rocks at a delegation from the U.S. embassy.
Esh Kodesh is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank near Shilo. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. Israeli outposts in the West Bank are considered illegal both under international law as well as under Israeli law. The population in 2005 was under 12 families.
Giv'at Asaf is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank. Located 3.5 kilometres from the settlement of Beit El, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. It has about 30 structures and is home to some 30 families. It was established in May 2001 after the murder of Asaf Hershkovitz, a resident of Ofra, for whom it was named. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, whereas Israeli outposts are considered illegal both under international law as well as under Israeli law. According to the 2005 Sasson Report, Giv'at Asaf was built on privately owned Palestinian land, and is therefore also illegal under Israeli law.
Ramat Gilad is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank under the jurisdiction of Shomron Regional Council. Israeli outposts in the West Bank are considered illegal both under international law as well as under Israeli law.
Havat Gilad is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, which was established as an unauthorized outpost in 2002, after which it was dismantled by official forces and rebuilt by settlers several times until being granted legal status by the Israeli government in February 2018. The outpost was set up in 2002 in memory of Gilad Zar, son of Moshe Zar and security coordinator of the Shomron Regional Council, who was shot and killed in 2001.
Mitzpe Yair is an unauthorized Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located two kilometres south-east of Susya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Har Hebron Regional Council. It consists of 15 prefabricated structures, and is home for several families.
The price tag attack policy, also sometimes referred to as mutual responsibility, is the name originally given to the attacks and acts of vandalism committed primarily in the occupied West Bank by extremist Israeli settler youths against Palestinian Arabs, and to a lesser extent, against left-wing Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs, Christians, and Israeli security forces. The youths officially claim that the acts are committed to "exact a price from local Palestinians or from the Israeli security forces for any action taken against their settlement enterprise".
Worshippers Way or Prayers Road in Hebron, West Bank is a road linking the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba with the Cave of the Patriarchs and with the Jewish settlements in Hebron. The road is used by Israelis and tourists who visit the Cave and the Old City of Hebron. Palestinians are denied vehicular use of the road. The road was expanded after an ambush near Kiryat Arba that took place in November 2002. The expansion required that adjacent Palestinian land be expropriated, which resulted in a legal battle. A number of buildings of architectural and historical value, dating back to the Mamluk-Ottoman period, were also expropriated and destroyed.
Regavim (רגבים) is a pro-settler Israeli NGO that monitors and pursues legal action in the Israeli court system against any construction lacking Israeli permits undertaken by Palestinians or Bedouins in Israel and in the West Bank. It describes itself as "a public movement dedicated to the protection of Israel’s national lands and resources" and aims to "[restore] the Zionist vision to its primary role in the Israeli policy process".
This is a Timeline of events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict during 2016.