Ramallah: On Monday, a march to an illegal settler outpost in the occupied West Bank that had been abandoned two years prior was led by extremist Israeli government ministers.
The latest challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin's authority by far-right members of his Cabinet is the marchers' demand that the illegal Avitar outpost, which was constructed on Palestinian land on Mount Sabih south of Nablus, be repopulated.
Israeli settlers from all over the country marched towards the outpost while carrying Israeli flags and singing and chanting religious songs. Israeli security forces attacked nearby Palestinian protesters while defending them.
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The Palestinian Red Crescent provided medical care to 216 victims of tear gas inhalation and 22 victims of rubber bullet wounds.
Seven Israeli ministers, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who are leading the call for the legalisation of outposts, and more than 20 members of the Knesset led the march. At the march, Ben-Gvir declared, "With God's help, we will legalise dozens more."
"I think that the only way to solve all of this problem is if we settle this place," said Rivka Katzir, 74, a resident of the Elkan settlement. We will walk if there is a new settlement we want to create.
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Under international law, all settlements are prohibited, but Israel makes a distinction between outposts built by rogue settlers' groups without authorization and those planned by the state.
One of these groups established the Avitar outpost in 2013, and between then and July 2021, when the final settlers were driven out, it was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. Twelve Palestinians were killed during violent clashes that the outpost over time brought about between the Israeli army and residents of the nearby town of Beita.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are two ministers who have led the charge for settlement growth. By amending a 2005 law that ordered their evacuation, the Knesset last month made it possible for settlers to return to four settlements in the occupied West Bank. This action was denounced by Palestinian leaders and the EU.
Eight unauthorised West Bank outposts received retroactive recognition from Israel in February, which was denounced by international organisations.
According to Ghassan Daghlas, who oversees the Palestinian Presidency's handling of the settlement issue in the northern West Bank, the goal of the settlers' march was to justify the appropriation of Palestinian lands for Israeli settlement.
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In his words, "We are in the midst of a new settlement battle with this extreme right-wing Israeli government, and if their policies are not met with a strong Palestinian and international popular response, they will restart settlement in the northern West Bank and rebuild the settlements that were evacuated in 2005.