The demolition of Amona and the eviction of its 40 families has been more than a decade in the making. Most of the world considers all the Jewish settlements in the West Bank to be illegal, not just those built on Palestinian private property. In an attempt to calm the situation, ministers promised the dismantling of Amona would bring renewed settlement building in the West Bank. Inside Amona, devout young Jewish men and women hunkered down inside abandoned houses, barbed wire strung up around doors and windows. The 2006 Amona evictions came after an intense summer in 2005 when Israel withdrew its troops and citizens from the Gaza Strip.

Source: National Post February 01, 2017 13:18 UTC