Israel shuts down one settlement, plans to open another
Security forces on Thursday were close to closing down the illegal settlement of Amona, even as the government announced a new settlement in the occupied West Bank.
A Jewish settler stands at an observation point overlooking the occupied West Bank village of Duma, near Yishuv Hadaat, an unauthorised Jewish settler outpost, January 5, 2017.
Security forces on Thursday were close to shutting down the Amona outpost in the West Bank in an operation to move out the last residents of the illegal settlement.
Settlers earlier barricaded themselves in the outpost's synagogue and refused to leave.
Israel's Supreme Court shut down the illegal settlement which was built on private Palestinian land.
Meanwhile, the Israeli government on Wednesday announced it would establish a new settlement in the occupied West Bank, the first since the late 1990s, saying it would relocate the residents of Amona to the new settlement.
Israel recently announced plans for 3,000 more settlement homes in the West Bank. It was the third such declaration in 11 days since US President Donald Trump took office. Trump has signalled he could be more accommodating toward such projects than his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama.
TRT World's Muhannad Alami has this update on the closure of Amona.
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