The head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council announced this morning the “establishment of a new community” called Shdema, adjacent to homes in the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour. Overnight, tractors leveled the ground, and by morning, several caravans had been placed on the site. The area, known as Oush Grab, had been designated about 15 years ago for the construction of a children’s hospital for Bethlehem residents, but the hospital was never built after settlers began establishing an unauthorized outpost there and pressured the government to halt the project.
Peace Now: “The new outpost is intended to choke the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour and block its development. There is no limit to the settlers’ audacity in establishing outposts and creating facts on the ground, while using public funds and denying Israel the chance for a future of peace and two states.”
Peace Now has filed a police complaint demanding an investigation into the council’s involvement in the illegal construction.
Earlier this week, the IDF removed several illegal settler structures at an outpost southeast of Bethlehem. One factor behind the demolition was pressure from the head of the Gush Etzion Council, Yaron Rosenthal, who urged the government to act against settlers building without permits in an area where he plans to establish a formal settlement.
Rosenthal is one of the settler leaders who criticize violence by “hilltop youth,” yet at the same time praises farm-outpost settlers, who also engage in violence but operate in a more organized manner. It is possible that, following criticism he faced over the demolition, he acted quickly to establish a new outpost — also without any legal approval — to satisfy his critics on the right.
Background: How Settler Pressure Shapes Land Policy in the West Bank
The story of the new outpost began about 15 years ago. For decades, the site housed a military base, but in the early 2000s, the IDF concluded it was no longer needed and vacated the area. The United States then initiated a plan to build a children’s hospital on the abandoned base, funded by American assistance. The Olmert government approved the project, since the land lies in Area C, under Israeli control according to the Oslo Accords.
But the settlers had other plans. They argued that the proposed hospital would endanger settlers driving on a nearby road that had been paved for them about two years earlier. They began establishing an outpost on the abandoned base and held regular activities there in an effort to pressure the government to block construction of the hospital.
In the end, the settlers prevailed. The government withdrew its approval for the hospital and, citing the need to “protect Palestinians from settler violence,” reinstated a small military post on the site, which remains there today.
Now settlers have arrived and established a new outpost next to the military post.
A detailed historical account of the earlier events at Oush Grab can be found in a 2010 article by Hagit Ofran: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-settlers-prevented-th_b_467705