Ulpana eviction
Ulpana evictionHillel Maeir

After the final families were evicted Thursday from their homes in Beit El, workers came to seal off the buildings to make sure nobody can reenter.

The work was done by Palestinian Authority residents employed by a company hired by the Defense Ministry.



The ministry took pains to hire Israeli workers to perform other tasks related to the eviction, in an attempt to avoid causing evicted families additional pain. The families’ belongings were packed, shipped across town and delivered by Jewish laborers.

The Tatzpit news organization filmed the work being done.

Most of the dozens of families evicted from the buildings are now living in a caravan site on the military base next to Beit El. Some of the families were sent to hotels in the north because their caravans were not ready for occupancy. Others planned, ahead of time, to go to other communities.

The mobile homes provided by the Defense Ministry were taken from families expelled from Gush Katif in 2005. The Gush Katif families had been promised the homes to allow them to make a long-awaited move to the Lachish region, away from the Gaza belt area where most currently reside.

The buildings in Beit El that were cleared out are to be broken into 108 pieces, then rebuilt elsewhere in the Binyamin region town. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told residents that in addition to rebuilding the homes, his government will build another 300 homes in Beit El.