(IsraelNN.com) The nuclei for six Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria were either established or strengthened Sunday by Jewish pioneers, in a special Chanukah settlement project. Despite scuffles with police and the IDF, which declared the points of settlement closed military zones, Chanukah menorahs were lit in at least three of the sites.

Pioneers waved Israeli flags as well as the banners of soccer team Betar Yerushalayim.

At Shvut Ami, near Kedumim, about 150 people participated in the lighting of the Chanukah menorah.

Residents of Maaleh Adumim and other pioneers climbed the hill known as E-1, and which they have now named Mevaseret Adumim.  The hilltop was approved for Jewish settlement by the second Rabin government, but American pressure halted construction of its 4,000 planned apartments. About 50 pioneers lit the sixth Chanukah light there, and some remained for the night.  Security forces dispersed them Monday afternoon, but the pioneers said they intend to return.

A few dozen protesters from pro-Arab group "Peace Now" demonstrated against the pioneers, saying that construction at E-1 would "destroy prospects for peace." 

On the nearby hill, however, more than 500 pioneers gathered in the course of the day, accompanied by MK Aryeh Eldad and musician Ariel Zilber. As police confronted the pioneers, Zilber played his trumpet, sang his songs and made happy sounds for all. The pioneers waved Israeli flags as well as the banners of soccer team Betar Yerushalayim, which is considered to be a bastion of Jewish patriotism.

"They will evict them today, and they will come back tomorrow," Zilber said. "They will never give up. This is our role, to settle the Land of Israel."

At Givat HaOr, near Beit El, three families moved into five empty structures that date back from the time when the area was under Jordanian rule, before 1967. Former Kedumim Mayor Daniela Weiss took command of the operation, putting pioneers to work with pickaxes, marking paths and clearing the residential compounds. Some 30 people remained there overnight, and work continued the next day as well.

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Youths painted the structures bright blue instead of the previous discolored tan, as the families prepared to move in. Weiss held a pep talk with a group of girls, and told them that the new community is the first stop on the road connecting Givat Assaf to Beit El. "This is the first neighborhood adjacent to the town," she said, "but soon we will take the next hilltop, and the next one, all the way up to Givat Assaf and Ofrah."

Weiss noted that for 30 years, the residents of Binyamin - first those of Ofrah, and later, when the roads were changed, those of Beit El - had passed by these buildings without noticing them. "These structures have been patiently standing here, waiting for us to re-settle them once again," she said.

At Harchivi, near Elon Moreh, 15 pioneers braved the cold to light the menorah.

At Maoz Esther, near Kokhav HaShachar in southern Samaria, 50 young pioneers prepared to construct a tent near the hill.

About 50 pioneers reached Givat Halhoul, not far from the City of Patriarchs, Hevron.  Army and police forces evicted them before dawn, gathering them on to bus-trucks, and dropping them off at the Beit Jubrin junction.  Several dozens of them were on their way back in time to light Chanukah candles Monday evening.

At Nofei Hashmonaim near Hashmonaim on the western border of southern Samaria, a Border Policeman was lightly injured in the course of a police raid; one activist was arrested.  The would-be settlers were dispersed, but returned Monday morning.

The ministerial committee for "illegal outposts" will convene Tuesday for what some reporters term a "historic" legal discussion. The ministers will try to decide which communities in Judea and Samaria are to be torn down.