Deal struck to avoid forced evacuation of Israeli settlers

Residents of a wildcat settlement in the occupied West Bank agreed to a plan Sunday to relocate their hilltop outpost peacefully that could allow Israel's government to avoid a potentially violent stand-off. The 40 families living at Amona northeast of Ramallah face a High Court order to leave the site by December 25 because it was found to have been built on private Palestinian land. The approaching deadline led to a scramble to peacefully resolve the situation, with the settlers refusing to leave and several hundred hardline youths streaming into the outpost in recent days in support.