JERUSALEM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday voiced opposition to calls by his far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for settlers to erect settlement outposts everywhere in the occupied West Bank.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said such calls "undermine the rule of law in Judea and Samaria [the biblical name of the West Bank]."

Calls to build outposts "harm Israel's vital interests and they must stop immediately," Netanyahu added in statements cited by The Jerusalem Post newspaper.

The Israeli premier, however, vowed to continue to authorize settlement building plans across the West Bank in response to Palestinian attacks against settlers.

On Friday, Ben-Gvir called on the Israeli settlers to “run for the hilltops.”

“There needs to be a full settlement here. Not just here but on all the hilltops around us,” Ben-Gvir said while visiting the illegal hilltop outpost of Eviatar in the West Bank.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Israeli settlers set up at least seven outposts in the West Bank in the past 24 hours amid rising tensions in the occupied territory following a spate of attacks.

Nearly 180 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of this year, according to the Health Ministry. At least 25 Israelis have also been killed in separate attacks during the same period.

Estimates indicate that about 700,000 Israeli settlers are living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the occupied West Bank.
Under international law, all Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar