Israel mulls authorising wildcat West Bank settlements

OCCUPIED-AL-QUDS: Israel is considering authorising wildcat settlement outposts in the West Bank near a village where a firebombing killed an 18-month-old Palestinian boy and his parents, court documents showed Thursday.
The government confirmed it was considering the authorisation in a court document first made public by rights group Yesh Din, which has been involved in legal action against one of the outposts.
The international community regards all Jewish settlements in the West Bank as illegal, but the Israeli government makes a distinction between those it has authorised and those it has not.
The wildcat outposts, often little more than a few caravans, are notorious for housing young Jewish hardliners, referred to in Israel as hilltop youth.
Settlements and outposts are seen as major stumbling blocks to peace efforts as they are built on land that Palestinians see as part of a future state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who addresses the UN General Assembly on Thursday, has faced major criticism internationally for refusing to halt settlement expansion. The government did not respond to requests for comment from AFP.
Yesh Din has been involved in legal action in a bid to force Israel’s government to remove the Adei Ad outpost, established in 1998.