Media: Israel buries 'settler outpost on Palestinian land' report

Israeli soldiers stand guard over settlers in a newly constructed illegal outpost
on a land owned by the Palestinian Haddar family near the village of Yatta,
south of West Bank city Hebron, on June 6, 2009.
(MaanImages/Mamoun Wazwaz)

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israel's Military Advocate General is delaying the publication of a report showing an illegal settler outpost was built on lands owned by Palestinians, Israeli media reported Sunday.

The Israeli government study says 60 percent of the land of outpost Derekh Haavot was established on private land, after Palestinians petitioned an Israeli high court for the return of their property, Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

While a copy obtained by Haaretz shows the survey was conducted in November 2010, Israeli army and Civil Administration officials have since denied the survey was ready.

An Israeli judge said the case against the outpost could not proceed until the report was ready, Haaretz noted.

Derekh Haavot lies south of Bethlehem in the central West Bank, and was established in 2001 as an outpost of Israeli settlement Elazar, settlement monitoring group Peace Now says.

Families in Bethlehem-district town al-Khader say the outpost is built on their private property.

Maan News Agency