Struggle in Samaria
Struggle in SamariaIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Residents of Tzufim in Samaria clashed Tuesday with IDF Civil Administration inspectors who tried to impound heavy construction equipment there, as part of the ongoing US-ordered freeze on home building by Jews.

Latest reports said that 11 people were arrested and two were taken away in ambulances. Special 'Yassam' police units were sent to the community. Police said that a policewoman was pummeled with fists in her stomach and was evacuated in moderate condition.

 

Entrances to the community were sealed off and residents returning home from work were forced to park outside the community and make their way in on foot. 

The grassroots Shomron Residents Council reported that according to one version of events, a truck carrying impounded building supplies ran over several residents.

The Chairman of the Samaria Regional Council, Gershon Mesika, forwarded an urgent plea to IDF Central Command Head Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrachi, asking him to stop the police violence and take the police forces out of Tzufim.

"The Administration knows full well that the crane was working on a site where construction had begun before the freeze order was issued,” Mesika said. “It is simply shocking that because of [Defense Minister Ehud] Barak's whims and politics, police are ordered to injure innocent citizens.”

Violence at Tzufim Monday was less severe, as this video shows:

Resident David Abudraham told Arutz Sheva's Hebrew service that numerous residents gathered when they learned that the inspectors had arrived. “The residents are blocking the inspectors' activity with their bodies,” he said.

According to the Shomron Liaison Office, as of 5:00 PM the residents of Tzufim had been “holding up” for two hours but they believed that the police were in the process of bringing in reinforcements.

Photos from Tuesday clashes at Tzufim: youth awaiting inspectors, young man hurt / Gila Slonim