Security forces today (Wednesday) demolished illegal structures in the Ma'ale Rehavam outpost in Gush Etzion, which were allegedly built on private Palestinian land. This eviction is the first of three, after the High Court of Justice ruled that the three settlements located in Gush Etzion and Binyamin are located on Palestinian land and therefore must be evacuated. After clashes between settlers and security forces, one arrest was reported.
In 2007, the Peace Now movement petitioned the High Court of Justice in a petition called the "Six Outposts High Court" demanding the demolition of buildings in several outposts, including the settlements of Ma'ale Rehavam, Givat Assaf, and Ramat Gilad. In 2013, the High Court set a final date for the demolition of the buildings, starting this coming Sunday. Since the IDF does not evacuate homes on Shabbat, it was decided to complete the evacuation process by Thursday.
At dawn, a convoy of security forces arrived at the outskirts of the outpost to demolish seven illegal structures. The regional council sought to delay the execution and filed a petition with the High Court of Justice for a restraining order, but this was not granted, and the evacuation began.
The spokesman for the Ma'ale Rehavam settlement said: "There is a false and delusional concept, according to which settlement means land theft. What is even more unfortunate is that this concept constitutes a moral justification for certain people to rob, trample and destroy Jewish property while harming the settlement.".
The Jewish Wars
Settlers and right-wing activists began arriving in the Gush Etzion area last night in order to disrupt the evacuation of the outpost and the demolition of the buildings as much as possible. This morning they were busy preparing to block the road leading to the settlement, in order to delay the forces arriving at the scene.
Right-wing activists gathered on the roofs of houses that were expected to be destroyed and were evacuated from there by YSM forces who took them to vehicles while protesting and shouting. A monitoring agency reported five detainees during the clashes so far, including a married couple, two adults and a minor.
Currently, tractors and engineering tools are on site, as are Arab workers hired by the Civil Administration, who are storing the contents of the evacuated houses in containers. At this stage, it is unknown what will happen to the personal belongings and where the containers will be moved for storage.
The army declared the area a closed military zone.
Stevon: We have to stop.
A member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, MK Yoni Shtavun, toured Givat Assaf this morning (Wednesday), which is expected to be evacuated by the end of the week, as stated. MK Shtavun said: "I call on the Minister of Defense and his office to present a clear position to the Attorney General's Office and stop the evacuation from Givat Assaf and Ramat Gilad. We must not forget that behind the ideology, there are families with children here who are currently sitting on boxes and awaiting their sentence. This must be stopped, and preferably one hour earlier.".
Stevon met with the settlement secretariat, strengthened the residents' hands, and noted that "this is an unfortunate decision that must be stopped. It is a cruel guillotine placed on the necks of the pioneers who chose to settle the land. Precisely now, when the hallucinatory effect of the Palestinian state has worn off, the Knesset and the government must promote settlement in Judea and Samaria, not uproot settlements.".
The Knesset member defined the Peace Now movement as "a delusional and extremist minority that is fed up with the values of Zionism and commitment and is shaking up the system.".
Join the Haredim 10 Facebook page >>
Join the X page of Haredim 10 >>
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
