Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has announced that
as part of his plan to pull settlements out of the Gaza Strip he will also
tackle the question of illegal outposts in both Gaza
and the West Bank.The outposts are, in effect,
mini-settlements, places within the occupied Palestinian territories where
Israelis have set up a few houses or motor homes (in some cases just a tent or
a shack) as a means of staking a claim to the land.Most often, the outposts are strategically
located between two larger settlements, and have acted as a means to give
continuity to the settlements while depriving the Palestinians of the
space.While settlements have legal
status under Israeli law, the outposts do not.
Sharon recently commissioned a study on the outposts from Israeli
attorney Talia Sasson.Her report found that there are around 105
outposts in Israel,
although she said the exact number was difficult to determine due to reluctance
of government officials to provide her with the information she needed to make
a complete assessment.Since March 2001,
when Sharon
came to power, Sasson found that at least 24 outposts had been created.Many of the outposts were set up with
government approval, Sasson concluded, while others are in the process of
receiving government approval.She based
her conclusion on the fact that the majority of outposts she examined were
fully serviced with electricity, provided by the Israeli Electric Corporation,
and water, from the Mekorot Water Company (both state
run) and that the individuals who lived in the outposts were protected by
Israeli soldiers.
Sasson’s report has been widely interpreted by the
Israeli media as the prelude to Sharon declaring the outposts set up since his
election illegal, while he is widely expected to elevate the status of the
remaining 80-odd outposts by turning them into full-fledged settlements, all
located within the West Bank.Most of
the outposts created under Sharon’s
rule have been in the Gaza Strip.
Sharon has been closely linked with the establishment of the
outposts.In a recent interview
published in an Israeli newspaper, one of the managing directors of a Gaza settlers’ council
said the establishment of the outposts was well co-ordinated."For many years the government deemed it
desirable and possible to create settlement contiguity and not leave holes
between settlements," he said. "The outposts served as a means to
this end. They were set up on the basis of meticulous planning to seize
strategic points."He also said all
the outposts established since March 2001 were coordinated with Sharon."Someone would sit with Sharon and tell him: `This point is strategic
and important.' Sharon
would get back to him a few days later and say `you're right, this is an important
point. It must be seized.' The ministers knew about them. Even Ben Eliezer, as Sharon's defence minister, toed the line and instructed his people
to cooperate. This is how the process of approving and licensing most outposts
took place. At a certain stage Sharon
turned his back and made an about-face. At that stage, the ministries stopped
cooperating, but on the ground there were already 100 outposts, some of them
approved, some in the process of being approved. Everything was coordinated. We
are not lawbreakers."