On Thursday, Israel’s Supreme Court accepted a petition by Palestinian plaintiffs and ruled that a Jewish settlement, the Mitzpe Kramim settlement, in the occupied West Bank was built on land owned by Palestinians and thus must be removed.
This ruling overturned a 2018 Israeli District Court decision that had declared the Jewish settlers as the legal owners of the Palestinian land. The District Court had made the decision claiming that authorities were unaware of the land being privately owned by Palestinians when they originally mapped the area.
The District Court ruling was backed by an Israeli law which states that transactions with legal faults could be permitted if they were carried out in “good faith.”
Mitzpe Kramim, home to about 40 families, majority of whom reside on Palestinian-owned lands, was constructed 20 years ago on a hilltop that overlooks the Jordan Valley. The Jewish settlers in Mitzpe Kramim say they received Israeli authorities’ approval to build their homes there.
However, Israel’s Supreme Court, on Thursday, announced that the Israeli authorities had not behaved in good faith by “turning a blind eye to the many warning signs given over many years” that showcased the plots of land actually belonged to the Palestinians.
Israel’s Supreme Court has now ordered Israeli authorities to find alternative housing for the Jewish settlers in 36 months.
While declaring the decision the court said the ruling was a “painful outcome for Mitzpe Kramim’s residents”.
Land captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war is considered illegal by majority of the countries except Israel and the United States.
The Palestinians seek the West Bank as part of their future state.
Currently, around 450,000 Israeli settlers reside in the West Bank along with nearly three million Palestinians. The recent historic normalization of ties between the UAE and Israel has shelved Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 2020 plan to further annexe parts of the West Bank.