West Bank church compound added to settlement bloc

Israeli 'Defense' Minister Moshe Yaalon has ordered the army to incorporate a southern West Bank church compound into the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, Israeli daily Haaretz reported Wednesday.

The 38-dunam (9.3 acre) compound, known as Beit al-Baraka, is located to the north of al-Arrub refugee camp in the occupied southern West Bank district of al-Khalil ('Hebron').

An investigative report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz in May last year alleged that American millionaire Irving Moskowitz purchased the site through a Swedish company in 2012 with the intention of turning it into a settlement outpost.

Since then, Palestinians have staged regular protests outside the compound, often with Palestinian political and religious leaders in attendance.

The church lies in a sensitive location between the Gush Etzion settlement bloc and the cluster of settlements around al-Khalil, and its incorporation into Gush Etzion would see a near continuous line of settlements between the occupied al-Quds ('Jerusalem') and the occupied al-Khalil ('Hebron').