Israel demolishes illegal Jewish settlement in West Bank
14:5221/05/2009 TEL AVIV, May 21 (RIA Novosti) - Israeli security forces demolished on Thursday an illegal Jewish settler outpost in the occupied West Bank, a local police spokesman said.
Under the roadmap for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel is obliged to freeze all settlement construction activity and remove unauthorized outposts built since 2001.
No violence was reported during the demolition of the Maoz Esther outpost. The settlers were later evacuated by a bus.
The demolition came in line with a pledge made on Monday after the first talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington.
After the negotiations, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said: "We will dismantle the illegal outposts... If it won't be through understanding, it will be done quickly and by force."
Israel has 121 settlements in the occupied West Bank with a combined population of around 300,000. Israeli authorities have pledged to destroy at least 20 of the settlements.
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