Nablus / PNN - The Israeli government has denied that it is planning to evacuate 23 settler outposts in the West Bank in a single one-day operation.

These outposts are illegal under both international and Israeli law and could be cleared in the near future as tensions rise between the American and Israeli administrations.

The Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported that the Israeli military were undergoing crowd control drills in preparation for a lightning operation, with the knowledge of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

However, a statement from the army has denied there are any active plans to remove the outposts. A spokesman insisted that “no such order had been received” and that the drills were simply training for dealing with settler unrest.

An Israeli former-ambassador to the US did not confirm that preparations were taking place, but insisted that the Israeli government was committed to the removal of illegal settlement outposts. "There was never a doubt that Israel's commitment on the matter of outposts was complete."

These outposts contain around 8,000 settlers. It is estimated that 30 percent of the land they cover is privately owned by Palestinians, and their residents are among the most extremist settlers.

Last night saw settler violence rise with riots around Nablus burning 1,500 Palestinian olive trees and hospitalizing two Palestinians. The attacks on Palestinians came after the Israeli army removed one illegal caravan. There are fears that a large-scale evacuation would spark further violence.

The human rights organization Yesh Din warned that settlers intended to “create a price for each evacuation, causing Israeli authorities to think twice about carrying them out".
Rightist Israeli politicians also suggested that a lightning evacuation could drive settlers to “extreme measures.”

In 2006, the evacuation of the Amona outpost was accompanied by violent clashes between Jewish settlers and police. Three years later, however, much of the outpost has been rebuilt.

The Israeli government had agreed five years ago to clear unauthorized settlements from the West Bank, but has not yet set any timetable for carrying this out. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has said that the removal of outposts is a matter of law enforcement rather than politics.

Expansion of existing settlements, illegal under international law as the existence of all settlements is, continues. Yesh Din has condemned the occupation authorities for directing attention onto “dummy outposts” rather than dealing with the larger issue of the 280,000 Israelis living in “authorized” settlements in the West Bank.

Jordan and Russia are calling on the Israelis for a complete settlement freeze of all settlements including the largest such as Ma'ale Adumim and Efrat, while imprisoned Fateh leader Marwan Al Barghouti said that negotiations with the Israelis cannot be held until settlements are halted.

The date for any planned evacuation has not been set or revealed, and it is likely that it will remain confidential for security reasons. For Palestinians whose backyards are the sites on which settlers have imposed their outposts, hope of regaining their land and security remains overshadowed by fears of further violence.

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