A report Saturday claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered the evacuation of 14 illegal Israeli settlement outposts in the West Bank due to the involvement of their residents in extremist violence, though a spokesperson for the premier flatly denied the story.

The report by Channel 12 news came amid concern in the United States that repeated settler attacks could endanger US President Donald Trump’s plan for postwar Gaza.

The report stated that the security services view the outposts as sources of Jewish terrorism, and as “staging posts” for extremist settlers to attack Palestinian villages and civilians in the vicinity.

Some residents of such outposts are also thought to be responsible for recent attacks against the IDF and the Israeli police.

According to the report, the security services will seek to detain some 70 extremist activists and issue them with orders banning them from the West Bank. The network said restraining orders for varying periods of time had been issued for some 30 of them, with the number expected to increase.

The report also said that one conclusion from talks on the matter has been that the Shin Bet’s Jewish Division, which acts against terrorism perpetrated by Jews, needs to be expanded and boosted.

A spokesperson for........

© The Times of Israel