District Judea and Samaria Area Region West Bank Name meaning Hills | Council Gush Etzion Founded by Nahal Founded 1984 | |
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Gevaot (Hebrew: גְּבָעוֹת) is an Israeli outpost located in the West Bank, in the westernmost area of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc. It is named for the hills (gevaot in Hebrew) from which Balaam spoke, according to Numbers 23:9, just like the neighbouring settlement Rosh Tzurim.
Contents
- Map of Gvaot Alon Shvut
- Location
- History
- 2014 land reclassification
- Israel
- Palestine
- International
- References
Map of Gva'ot, Alon Shvut
On 31 August 2014, Israel declared 988 acres of land surrounding Gevaot as part of state land in West Bank. Gevaot had yet to be recognized by the Israeli government, due to the lack of defined boundaries, this land appropriation is the first required step to officially recognizing Gevaot.
As of August 2014, there were 10 families living in Gevaot. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, although the Israeli government disputes this.
Location
The location is strategically located above the highway from Gush Etzion to Beit Shemesh and the Shfela. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council. Gush Etzion's main communities were founded on land purchased by Jews prior to the establishment of Israel, although "Arab soldiers destroyed the communities when they fought against Israel's founding" in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
History
A 1982 Israeli government decision led to the construction of an Israel Defense Forces Nahal outpost at the site in 1984.
In 1997, the base was transferred to the Shvut Yisrael Hesder Yeshiva, which moved there from nearby Efrat. The site is on privately owned Palestinian land, and outpost was built without zoning permits. Over the following decade the yeshiva developed the location as a housing area for its married students and their families. The yeshiva itself moved back to Efrat in 2003.
In 2013, the Israeli government announced plans to expand the settlement and opened bids for 1,000 additional housing units. As of August 2014, 523 of the 1,000 units were under construction. The area was designated as a neighbourhood of Alon Shvut, though that is several miles away, and, in the Israeli view, as a neighbourhood of a pre-existing settlement, new construction there would not constitute the creation of a new settlement.
2014 land reclassification
In late August 2014, in what was widely reported as a land grab, the IDF's Civil Administration of the West Bank, under political instructions, announced it was appropriating 988 acres (1.54 square miles), defining it as Israeli state land as opposed to private Palestinian land south of Bethlehem, a seizure which prohibits Palestinians from using the area. According to Peace Now, it was the largest confiscation of Palestinian land in three decades.
The move, first prompted by a suggestion at a security meeting by Moshe Ya'alon, was explained both as a response to the murder of three Israeli teenagers and as a measure adopted by Benjamin Netanyahu to placate government allies to his right who were critical of his handling of Hamas in the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. The land belongs to the five Palestinian villages of Jab'a, Surif, Wadi Fukin, Husan and Nahalin. The IDF maintains that there are no Palestinian claims on the land, but that those who felt they had valid claims, could appeal within 45 days of the announcement. Palestinians in the area, including the mayor of Surif, Ahmad Lafi, said that land belongs to them and that they harvested olive trees there.
The land making up the Gevaot land appropriation is located on the Palestinian side of the current route for the Israeli West Bank barrier.