(IsraelNN.com) Five military jeeps unloaded a host of army and police forces outside Givat Assaf, near Beit El, on Monday, and the 20 families living at the strategic outpost fear they may be being targeted for sudden eviction and destruction.

An official of the Civil Administration (the body that coordinates government activities with the Jewish and Arab residents of Judea and Samaria) told Arutz-7 that the forces came to deliver “orders” to the residents. It was not specified what type of orders these were – eviction, demolition, or other – but in the end, none were delivered to the residents.

At Migron, however, two demolition orders were posted on two newly-built homes earlier in the day. Migron is a 43-family neighborhood east of Jerusalem's N'vei Yaakov suburb whose residents are slated for transfer to another Samaria neighborhood, Adam. The residents have not agreed to the plan.

The incident in Givat Assaf began tensely, when the five jeeps arrived and appeared to want to take down the locked gate.  The forces explained that they had come last week and found the gate locked – although a pedestrian passage is always open.

The residents explained that they always keep the gate locked, and that it was not locked specifically to keep the army out. After some discussion, the forces entered, took pictures, and left.

Last week, Border Guard forces demolished three smaller Jewish outposts in Samaria: Maoz Esther near Kokhav HaShachar on the western edge of the Jordan Valley; Shvut Ami near Kedumim; and Ramat Migron, overlooking the Jerusalem-Shomron highway north of Jerusalem.

Each of the three is much smaller and more “mobile” than Givat Assaf. The latter, with 20 families, is of a more permanent nature, and its destruction would be expected to face tremendous physical resistance from local residents. In August 2004, when word was received that army forces were on their way to destroy the site, well over 1,000 residents from Jerusalem, Beit El, Ofra and the vicinity arrived on very short notice – and their very presence prevented the uprooting and destruction.

That incident followed nearly two years of periodic threats and fears that the neighborhood might be destroyed. The threats have continued since then as well.

Strategic Location, Commanding View
Givat Assaf is located on a hill with a commanding view of the strategic T-intersection on the main central-Israel north-south Highway 60. It is situated at the turnoff to Beit El and the Beit El army base, three kilometers away. The community was established in April 2001 after Ofra resident Assaf Hershkovitz was murdered by Arab terrorists just a few hundred meters away. Assaf's father Aryeh had been murdered by Arabs three months earlier in a similar manner several kilometers away.

The neighborhood has caravans (mobile homes without wheels) and houses for its 20 families, as well as a synagogue and mikveh [ritual bath].