Peace now: Remove 6 more outposts

Peace Now on Wednesday petitioned the High Court with a request to evacuate six illegal outposts in the West Bank.

The petition, which was submitted against Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, Central Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh and the Municipal Council of Karnei Shomron and Mount Hebron, seeks a repeat of the group's success last year in winning a petition calling for the demolition of Amona.

The outposts mentioned in Wednesday’s petition are: Ramat Gilad, Givat Assaf, Maale Rehavam, Mitzpe Lakhish, Givat Haroeh, and Mitzpe Yitzhar, which was evacuated in the past.

In the petition, which was submitted by Attorney Michael Sfarad, Peace Now asks the High Court to set an urgent hearing date, saying issued orders for the evacuation of the outposts are bound to expire in months.

“Clearly, all outposts against which evacuation orders have been issued are unauthorized and illegal, since their establishment was not approved by the State of Israel, and construction is done without permission and conforms to no outline. More so, these outposts have been built on land which is partially state-owned and partially Palestinian-owned,” the petition read.

According to Attorney Sfarad, evacuation orders were issued in 2004, and although all petitions against these orders were turned down, residents remain at the outposts.

“The structures have not been evacuated and the opposite is true. The six outposts continue to flourish and get larger. Evacuation orders have become a dead letter and the biggest failure in implementing the law in the West Bank, adding yet another failure. Orders to stop construction, demolish structures and stop infrastructure work are not carried out,” the petition said.

The group said the State is not implementing the law and the army is not taking the necessary steps to carry out the orders of State institutions.