Illegal Israeli outpost moved to 'abandoned' Palestinian land

The illegal Amona outpost in the occupied West Bank will be moved to other Palestinian land deemed "abandoned", Israel's civil administration said on Friday.

Objections to the temporary relocation must be filed within 48 hours of the statement, the administration said.

The announcement comes after Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit ruled that the absentee property may be used to accommodate Amona's 40 families until a permanent solution is reached.

Amona was ordered to be evacuated after Israel's Supreme Court ruled that it was built on private Palestinian land. The area's illegal occupiers were given until December 25 to leave.

The temporary relocation will cost around $13 million, according to a government estimate.

"It's simply idiotic that the state would spend 50 million shekels on this, for eight months, after which Amona's residents will be expelled yet again," the occupiers said in a letter addressed at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

"The State of Israel will have left behind people who have been expelled twice, wasted 50 million shekels [$13 million] and scarred a mountain." 

The occupiers have refused to leave the site and are coordinating with Israeli settler groups to stage sit-ins and protests at the illegal outpost.

While Amona has been marked for destruction, Israel's government is making moves to legalise thousands of illegal settlements in the West Bank, in defiance of international law.

A settlement bill will undergo its first reading in the Knesset on Monday.