In legal repeal, Israel to permit settlers' return to north West Bank outposts
Eighteen years after Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank, the Knesset authorized Israelis to return to the four West Bank demolished outposts.
The Israeli parliament rolled back on Monday parts of the 2005 Disengagement Law, which ordered the evacuation of four northern West Bank settlements, and thereby allowing them to return to the illegal outposts in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The law, formalizing Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, included at the time also the evacuation of four West Bank outposts. Since then, settlers have tried to repeal the law and return to the four settlements. Thirty-one Knesset members against 18 voted for the rollback, sponsored by nationalist Religious Zionism and far-right Jewish Power parties.
Shortly after the approval of the law, Minister of National Missions Orit Strock, Chairman of the Samaria Council (settlement umbrella organization) Yossi Dagan and several other settler leaders visited the flashpoint Homesh outpost. It was the first time since 2005 that such a visit was conducted legally and with Israel Defense Forces escort.
Years of campaigning
