After weeks without enforcement: night evacuation in the West Bank ends in confrontation

After weeks during which the security establishment refrained from dealing with and evacuating illegal outposts in the territories of Judea and Samaria, security forces operated last night (between Wednesday and Thursday) to enforce the law against a number of illegal Israeli construction components built in the area of the village of Deir Istiya in Area B, under the Ephraim Territorial Brigade.

Military sources say that the evacuation was carried out in accordance with an order signed by the Commander of the Central Command, Major General Avi Bluth, according to the policy of the political echelon, with the assistance of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories and the Civil Administration. During the evacuation, those present at the site blocked the route and threw stones at the security forces in an attempt to prevent them from carrying out the evacuation. The forces confiscated a tractor and livestock that were at the point. Four Israelis were detained and transferred to police custody.

About two weeks ago, the IDF confirmed that the army was refraining from carrying out governance and enforcement activities against far-right activists who had established a hundred illegal outposts throughout Judea and Samaria. The IDF said they are preparing to act to evacuate the outposts, but also admit that the chance of long-term success is minimal:

"We evacuate and after a day they go back up."

"We do not take anything for granted. In the last week we did not deal with the evacuation of outposts and in the coming days we will return to it. There are over 100 points, we evacuate some of the outposts, but this thing greatly stretches the IDF's capabilities from dealing with other things. And first and foremost, dealing with Palestinian terror," the IDF said.