The illegal outpost of Amona was established during the second half of the 1990’s on a hill located about one kilometer east of the Ofra settlement.  Approximately 30 families reside there today, making it one of the largest outposts in the West Bank.  Up until 15 months ago (April 2004), all of the buildings in the outpost were mobile, with the exception of a number of relatively flimsy structures that had been put up. 

In April 2004, the inhabited outpost of Ginot Arye, located south of Ofra, was evacuated.  Despite all the threats that had been bandied about, the evacuation was carried out by the residents themselves.  However, this move was not a sign of the beginning of a new trend in the government’s attitude towards the outposts, but rather was a continuation of the old trend of masking the government’s true intentions.  Ginot Arye had been, from its very onset, established on property that even the State of Israel acknowledged had been privately owned Palestinian land.  Its evacuation was intended to alleviate insistent legal pressures, without trying to deal with the length and breadth of the phenomenon of outposts as a whole. 

So, while Ginot Arye was being evacuated, its caravans were transferred to two points east of Ofra.  Consequently, two new outposts were created, one of which (Ofra North East) was populated almost immediately.  That same week, construction began on nine permanent buildings in Amona.  It seems that these events (evacuating the outpost, transferring the caravans to two eastward locations, and constructing permanent buildings in Amona) were part of an unwritten agreement between the settlers and the Ministry of Defense. 

In the beginning of 2005, Peace Now received (after many delays) an official reply from the Civil Administration stating that the construction underway in Amona was illegal.  Since then, Peace Now has been carrying out extensive correspondence with the Civil Administration in an effort to bring about necessary actions to apply the law against the construction which is still ongoing there.  The rate of construction peaked during the first months of 2005.  In fact, the frames for the nine permanent buildings were completed in March 2005.  Since then, work on the site has been continuing, especially during unconventional hours: weekends, holidays, late afternoons and evenings. 

In the beginning of July 2005, Peace Now submitted a petition to the High Court of Justice where the respondents were the Minister of Defense, the Commander of the IDF forces on the West Bank, the Head of the Civil Administration and the Commander of the SHAI Police District, accusing them of not implementing the cease and desist orders for work being carried out on the site, as well as not carrying out the demolition injunctions issued against the buildings back in October 2004.

To see the full text of Peace Now’s petition to the High Court of Justice - click here.

On July 5, 2005 the High Court of Justice issued an interim injunction demanding to evacuate the families that have populated the new houses. On Sunday, July 10 the settlers left the houses.

In the beginning of August the state promised the High Court of Justice it would implement demolition orders against nine permanent dwellings built illegally in the outpost Amona, after disengagement.

On October 30th, the Haaretz newspaper published an article in which it is reported that Mofaz, the Minister of Defence has authorized the army to implement the demolition orders.

24.11.05 - The Supreme Court has instructed (document in Hebrew) the State to inform the court by 5.1.06 on the status of the demolition due to take place in January 2006

3.1.06 - The "Agricultural Joint Community of Settlement Ltd - Amona" submitted a partition to the Supreme Court requesting to dismiss the Peace Now appeal due to the fact that they were not mentioned in it and neither where two other residents of the outpost. Peace Now responded (document in Hebrew) in court that there are no objections to add them to the appeal submitted, if they can provide documentation that proves they have legal residence rights or land ownership right.

18.1.06 - The High Court of Justice gave the settlers seven days to move out voluntarily from the Amona outpost. Click here to see the court decision (document in Hebrew)

29.1.06 - The High Court of Justice rejected a petition filed by settlers against the demolition of nine structures in the illegal West Bank settlement of Amona. Now the state can start with the demolition. Click here to see the court decision (document in Hebrew). Click here to read the report in Haaretz.

1.2.06 - At the end of hours of serious clashes, security forces took over the nine permanent constructions and the demolition injunctions issued against the buildings back in October 2004 were finally implemented. Click here to read the report in Ynet