NEWS FLASH

Israel Legalizes Three Settlement ‘Outposts’ | The Israeli government announced the legalization of three Jewish settlement “outposts” — where communities set up make-shift homes on hilltops — in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. The announcement comes as the U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace David Hale is in the region attempting to reignite the long-stalled peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. The Obama administration, successive U.S. governments and most of the world consider the settlements — which now house about 500,000 Jewish Israelis in occupied territory — to be “illegitimate.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also sought to delay the Israeli Supreme Court’s order to demolish another illegal outpost built on privately owned Palestinian land.