Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon recently ordered the relocation of two military bases which are positioned on "state land" in the occupied West Bank to allow the expansion of two illegal settlements, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported yesterday.

The paper said that Ya'alon would annex additional territory in the occupied West Bank to relocate the military bases.

The Israeli Border Police base in Ashmoret Yitzhak, near Kiryat Arba, and the army base near the settlement of Alei Zahav will be relocated, and the settlements would expand into these areas, Haaretz reported.

The paper said that the Israeli authorities seize Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank easily under the pretext of "security needs". It its editorial the newspaper said: "Ya'alon is using the law cunningly to bring about the expansion of more and more settlements."