The residents of an illegal Israeli settlement have accepted a government relocation plan, avoiding a potentially violent clash with security forces this week.
About two thirds of the families in Amona will be moved to an adjacent plot of land, with the rest relocated to Ofra, a nearby settlement. Amona, near Ramallah, is a so-called outpost, which Israel considers illegal because it was built without permission.
In 2014 the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that it was built on privately owned Palestinian land and gave the government two years to demolish it. The deadline is December 25.
The issue has consumed the Israeli government for weeks. Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, had ordered the security forces to destroy the homes but later backed down, agreeing to a relocation proposal in the early hours of yesterday.
“We’ve made great efforts to reach a solution in Amona,” he said at a cabinet meeting. “We did so out of goodwill.”
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Hundreds of supporters spent the past week camped out in cold and wet conditions at Amona, stockpiling tyres to use as roadblocks and posting lookouts on water towers. As part of the agreement the settlers have to sign a promise to leave their homes peacefully. The cabinet has allocated £27 million to evacuate the 40 families.
The deal may run into a last-minute hitch. Yesh Din, an Israeli charity, says that the new plot of land is also privately owned and plans to challenge the move in court.