Benjamin Netanyahu orders settlement evacuation in the West Bank

“Tas far as I know, Netanyahu gave the order to evacuate” the outposts, Smotrich said during a conference in Jerusalem, without mentioning names, adding that “he did not like that order.”.

Several Israeli media today reported that the Prime Minister’s order was the result of American pressure, citing the Ynet, Israel’s largest news site.

In late August Netanyahu promised to continue to establish settlements in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, despite increasing international pressure.

The construction and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, illegal under international law, increased significantly under the Netanyahu Government.

Some settlements are established by government decree, while others are unauthorized outposts, agricultural or otherwise, usually composed of some caravans or improvised structures. Its approval and subsequent legalisation have also increased significantly in recent years.

According to Minister Smotrich, evacuation concerns outposts built in areas under the control of the Palestinian authority and without official authorisation from the Israeli authorities.

Smotrich, leader of an extreme right-wing party defending the annexation of the entire West Bank, today boasted of having led “a revolution” by building and legalizing “villages, farms, roads and thousands of houses” in the occupied West Bank.

Excluding East Jerusalem, occupied and annexed by Israel, about three million Palestinians live in the West Bank, along with over 500,000 Israelis residing in these settlements.

Violence has increased in the West Bank since the unprecedented attack of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, with almost daily attacks by settlers and regular raids on Palestinian villages.

The United States ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, traveled Saturday to the West Bank to support Palestinian Americans who were victims of attacks by settlers.

“ Our message is clear: crime is a crime, terrorist act is a terrorist act. Those who commit them must expect severe consequences,” Huckabee said.

The President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, today thanked Huckabee for the “firm position” and for being on Saturday in the West Bank “to see and document firsthand what is happening,” according to a statement by the Presidency.

On Friday, the United Nations (UN) accused Israel of forcibly dislocating entire Palestinian populations from three refugee camps in the West Bank during several operations carried out in January and February 2025, admitting fears of possible ethnic cleansing.

In a report entitled “Destruction of Palestinian Refugee Camps in the North of the West Bank”, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights states that military, police and other forces deployed in the area killed civilians, destroyed hundreds of homes, damaged roads and other infrastructure, cut off water and electricity supplies and blocked humanitarian access to Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm camps in the north of the West Bank.