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Israeli Group Says West Bank Outposts Boom Under Trump

Associated Press

   JERUSALEM - Israeli settlers have established dozens of unauthorized
   settlement outposts in the West Bank in recent years, most of them
   founded since President Donald Trump entered office, an Israeli
   watchdog group said Monday.

   Peace Now said in a new report that Israeli settlers have founded 32
   remote West Bank outposts since 2012, often with tacit government
   support.

   Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the
   1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek these areas as parts of a
   future state. Most of the international community considers Israeli
   settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law and an
   impediment to a two-state solution to the conflict.

   New outposts are farms

   According to Peace Now, most of the new outposts are farms that aim to
   take over large tracts of land at the expense of Palestinians and are
   often publicly funded.

   Other cases included the creation of educational institutions and
   tourist sites that receive funding from their respective government
   ministries.

   "Most of the illegal construction is carried out in an organized manner
   by officials and with extensive funding from the public coffers," it
   said.

   Scores of settlement outposts dot the West Bank, in addition to over
   120 established settlements. Over time, outposts often grow into
   neighborhoods of nearby settlements or into full-fledged settlements of
   their own.

   Trump's Mideast team is led by figures with close ties to the settler
   movement. His ambassador to Israel, for instance, recently told the New
   York Times that Israel has the "right" to annex some of the West Bank.
   Both critics and supporters of the settlements say the White House's
   friendly attitude has encouraged a jump in settlement activity.

   Major expansion

   Peace Now said the government has retroactively authorized 15 outposts
   this year and seeks to approve 35 more as part of what it called a
   major expansion of West Bank settlements.

   "Law enforcement authorities ignore the theft of the land and in effect
   abet this activity," Peace Now said. "Settlers see this correctly as an
   incentive to build more outposts."

   The Defense Ministry and COGAT, the defense body responsible for civil
   affairs in the West Bank, did not respond to requests for comment.