Is Amona returning? Binyamin Council purchased land in the area of the evacuated outpost
First publication: The development company of the Binyamin Regional Council has purchased lands in the area where the outpost evacuated in 2017 was located, with the goal of establishing a new settlement point there. The council declares its goal: "To restore settlement to the places from which it was uprooted."
About 10 years after the evacuation of Amona, following the Supreme Court's decision that the settlement's houses were built on private Palestinian land, the development company of the Binyamin Regional Council has purchased plots at the site with the goal of resettling the area. This was learned by Ynet.
Yesterday, Thursday, the council reported that a new point had been established near the settlement of Migron, which was evacuated in September 2012 after there was also a dispute regarding the ownership of the lands in that area. In doing so, supporters of the settlement movement are marking the main goal — purchasing disputed lands with the aim of preventing future petitions to the Supreme Court and evacuations of settlements.
"We lost the battle. We will build a new settlement," Bennett told the residents of Amona.
"When a woman is raped, it hurts," Smotrich said regarding the evacuation of Amona.
These moves also join a plan for a dramatic expansion of the settlement of Amihai, which was established for the evacuees of Amona. As part of the project, about 1,200 housing units are expected to be built alongside public buildings and infrastructure, which will bring more than 6,000 new residents to the Shiloh bloc and create a settlement continuity between Amihai and Shvut Rachel.
We recall that in February 2006, nine permanent structures in Amona were demolished after the Supreme Court determined that they were built contrary to the law. According to the residents, the evacuation was carried out with severe violence by the security forces. In 2013, following a petition to the Supreme Court, another house was demolished, but it was later determined that the entire settlement must be evacuated. On February 1, 2017, after several postponements and delays, the evacuation of the settlement began. The residents who were forced to leave their homes established Amihai — a new settlement in the Shiloh Valley, not far from Amona.
It turns out that in the last three years, 104 new settlements have been established and regulated in Judea and Samaria, close to 20 of them in the Binyamin Regional Council, but the regional council is not satisfied with that and is planning to establish new settlement points. The regional council stated:
"The Binyamin Council is proud to work with its partners in the government and outside it to build new settlements, farms, and neighborhoods, and is no less proud to work to correct the injustices of the past and to restore settlement to the places from which it was uprooted. The Binyamin Development Company has a significant part in the enterprise of settling the land these days, among other things through the purchase of lands, their development, and their preparation for settlement."
The council further stated: "We are proud of this work and will continue to promote it with determination and responsibility. We do not usually comment on moves that are in progress, but only after the completion of the required processes. We will continue to purchase, build, develop, and settle the land."
