New settler outpost set up near East Jerusalem

Palestinian sources said on Sunday morning that a group of settlers set up an outpost in Sawahira village in the east of Jerusalem.

Mohammad Halaseh, head of Sawahira village council, told Xinhua that settlers set up a tent and caravans to establish the outpost at the break of dawn, razing approximately 0.5 sq km of lands.

Halaseh undermined claims that a settler had bought a plot of land in the area, saying that the person who is believed to have made the deal does not own the land.

He explained that the land ownership documents clearly show that the land belongs to Palestinians, despite being under Israeli control in Area (C).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously promised to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank as part of his electoral campaign.

In light of Netanyahu's threat and the recent Israeli house demolitions in areas under Palestinian control, the Palestinian Authority took a decision to stop abiding by Oslo Agreement and encourage Palestinians to use areas under Israeli control for agriculture and home construction.

Under the interim Oslo Agreement signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Israeli government in 1993, the West Bank was divided into three areas: Area (A) under Palestinian control, Area (B) under Palestinian and Israeli control and Area (C) under full Israeli control.

The latest Palestinian data shows that around 400,000 Israeli settlers live in 135 settlements and 100 illegal outposts in the West Bank, where the Palestinian population has reached 2.6 million.