PM looks to establish new town for residents as they are expelled fr their homes and the Supreme Court kills alternative housing plan.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu established a committee Wednesday evening to promote the establishment of a new town for the residents of Amona as the government promised a month and a half ago.

The committee will include representatives of the residents, the Defense Minister's assistant for settlement affairs, and the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff. The committee will begin work immediately to find the appropriate location for the resettlement of the population of Amona.

The government and the residents of Amona signed an agreement last December under which the government would construct alternative housing for the residents on the same hill as the existing settlement. However, no construction has taken place, and the Supreme Court tore up the agreement today when it ruled that the plots of land on which the government had planned to construct the new housing were private Arab land.

The evacuation of Amona began today, with no alternative housing having been provided for the residents.

It is believed that the new town will be located nearby in the Binyamin region. It would be the first new town established under the auspices of the State in Judea and Samaria in many years.