Amona, Mateh Binyamin

Amona

Amona (Hebrew: עמונה) 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.[1] As of October 2013, the outpost lodged 42 families.[2] It was evacuated completely in February 2017 in compliance with a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court.

The High Court of Israel ruled in 2006 that the settlement is illegal under Israeli law,[3] but as of March 2013, its status remained unresolved as the Israeli government continued to fight the court's eviction order. In May 2014 an Israeli police investigation revealed the entire outpost lay on private Palestinian land, and that documents used by settlers to claim they had purchased the sites were forged.[4] In December 2014, the Israeli High Court ordered the state to completely evacuate and demolish the settlement within two years.[5] The international community considers all Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law.[6]

Its name is derived from the Book of Joshua 18:24, which mentions Kfar Ha`Ammoni (ketiv, literally, Village of the Amonite) or Kfar Ha`Ammonah (qeri).

  1. ^ Matthew Bell (29 March 2012), "Future of Israel's Amona Settlement Outpost Uncertain", The World
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference jp_diplomatically was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Motti Inbari, Jewish Fundamentalism and the Temple Mount: Who Will Build the Third Temple?, pp. 166–167. SUNY Press, 2009
  4. ^ Levinson, Chaim (26 May 2014). "Police discover that entire Amona outpost was built on Palestinian land". Haaretz. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  5. ^ Chaim Levinson (25 December 2014). "High Court orders demolition of largest West Bank outpost within two years". Haaretz.
  6. ^ "The Geneva Convention". BBC News. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2010.