Israeli court orders state to raze West Bank outpost

JERUSALEM - Israel's supreme court has ordered Israeli authorities to demolish one of the oldest and most contentious Jewish settlement outposts in the West Bank.

The court on Thursday said the hilltop outpost of Amona must be evacuated within two years.

Amona was established in 1995 on private Palestinian land without Israeli government permission.

In 2006, Israeli police demolished nine homes at the outpost, setting off a bloody clash of settlers and supporters against police and soldiers. Several dozen trailers have remained.

The government put off dismantling the rest of the outpost, despite court deadlines. Settlers also claimed to have retroactively bought some of the land where the outpost sits, though the Palestinian landowners claim some of those sales were fictitious.

Palestinians want to establish a state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.