BICOM

The Ministerial Committee on settlement affairs yesterday decided to support a High Court petition by Migron residents to delay the outpost’s evacuation, despite reported objections from the State Prosecutor’s Office.

Migron is under court order to be evacuated by 1 August, as the outpost had been build on privately owned Palestinian land. However, two weeks ago residents of the outpost claimed that they had purchased roughly half the land the outpost sits on, and filed a motion to postpone the evacuation. An initial examination conducted by the Civil Administration confirmed the residents’ claims.

This occurrence prompted a meeting of the ministerial committee, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which it was decided to make it known to the court that the state required more time to check the purchase claims. The committees’ decision will now go to the State Attorney, who according to Ynetnews, does not support a delay and wishes to see the outpost evacuated by the court’s deadline.

If the State Attorney does not voice his opposition, on 22 July the court will decide on whether to accept the petition of the Migron residents, which claims 17 of the outpost homes were built on land purchased by the Mateh Binyamin regional council from private Palestinian landowners. If this is the case, the Israeli residents will be allowed to stay, according to a report in Haaretz. 

Despite support from the majority of ministers in the committee, the state has arranged the construction of permanent housing for the Migron families facing eviction in Psagot. The Migron residents, for their part, are swiftly attempting to register some of the land in their names.