Another Arab claimant has come forward, arguing that he has as a basis for ownership of one of the lots designated for resettling the Amona outpost, reducing the amount of land available to only about 9.5 dunam (2.35 acres), according to a report by Channel 10.
During a court hearing yesterday, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit presented the outline of a plan to resettle 40 families to a nearby area that was described as 'absentee land.'
The outline consisted of three blocks taking up about 16 dunam of land, but now one of those blocks has been claimed as private property by a Palestinian Authority Arab.
According to the report, those at the hearing to discuss the resettlement plan were unaware of this development, which reduces the plan's chance of success. The participants included representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Justice, and of the Foreign Ministry, and many others.
Col. Eyal Toledano, Legal Advisor for Judea and Samaria, and and Dina Zilber, the Deputy Attorney General, who also opposed the Justice Edmond Levy report that proved that Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria were legal, opposed the proposed plan. They enjoyed the support of other participants.
It is expected that Mandelblit will decide whether or not to approve the plan in the coming days. If he does not approve the plan then the only remaining option would be to resettle the residents in the town of Shvut Rachel, a plan which has been vehemently opposed by the Obama Administration.