Israel lists 'illegal outposts'
2004-07-01 13:22
Jerusalem - Israel has given the United States a list of unauthorised West Bank settlement outposts, a senior Israeli official said Thursday, but a US official said the action did not meet an American demand to dismantle the outposts and an Israeli newspaper said Israel is legalising some of the enclaves.
It was the latest sign of American impatience on the outpost issue.
Under the US-backed "road map" peace plan, Israel is required to dismantle dozens of unauthorised outposts and freeze construction in veteran settlements.
It has continued settlement building, and only a few outposts have been dismantled.
The outposts are typically little more than a caravan on an isolated hilltop, although some are inhabited and have received roads, electricity and other infrastructure. Palestinians view the outposts as the seeds of future settlements, which they say encroach on land they claim for a future independent state.
US ambassador Daniel Kurtzer last week called on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to fulfill a commitment to dismantle the outposts.
He said Sharon had promised to remove scores of the outposts during talks at the White House in April with US President George W Bush and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.
The Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Israeli defence ministry presented an outpost list to Kurtzer earlier this week.
'All ouposts illegal'
"Joint teams will now be established between the Ministry of Defense and Ambassador Kurtzer's office to determine which of the outposts is legal and which is not," he said.
However, Paul Patin, an American Embassy spokesperson in Tel Aviv, said the United States believed all the outposts were illegal because they were established after a cutoff date established in the road map.
"You can't create an illegal outpost one day and subsequently declare that it's legal," he said.
"Israel made a commitment and as Ambassador Kurtzer said last week we're expecting them to honour the commitment," he said. "We don't doubt that Israel will honor its commitments."
Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported on Thursday that the Israeli list includes 28 outposts, 12 of which Israel plans on dismantling or has already dismantled. It said the other 16 are in the process of receiving government approval.
On Wednesday Israel's Channel Two TV said approval would be given to Givat Haroeh, one of the largest of the West Bank outposts, which is populated by hard-liners who have threatened to resist any attempt to evacuate them.
The Israeli official declined to comment on the report on the reports.
- AP