החל הפינוי בשכונת נתיב האבות

Israeli security forces began destroying the carpentry shop in the Samarian town of Elazar's Netiv Ha'avot neighborhood, an IDF source reported.

Security forces are working to complete the demolition while ensuring security, law, and order.

According to the IDF, the demolitions are being carried out "as per the request of the political echelon."

The carpentry shop is one of seventeen buildings slated for destruction. The other demolitions are scheduled for March 2018.

Gush Etzion Regional Council Head Shlomo Ne'eman said, "It's very said that we have reached this moment. We've lost control and we've lost sovereignty. People tell us that this is 'the rule of law' but really, i's a loss of control and the destruction of law. Not only will the physical buildings be destroyed this morning; the law that a nation is sovereign in its own land will also be harmed by the bulldozers."

"Seventy years ago, the nations of the world recognized our right to create the State of Israel. On that day, Gush Etzion began its last battle - the battle for Jerusalem. It's time the Israeli government recognize the fact that Israel controls every part of this land. There is no better place to begin applying our sovereignty than Gush Etzion, which walks in the paths of its fathers." (Netiv Ha'avot literally means 'the path of the fathers.')

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit approved a deal which may save six of the fifteen homes slated for destruction. According to Mandelblit's plan, the parts of the homes which are built on private Arab land will be sawed off. These homes will then be given temporary building permits, effectively legalizing them.

The Supreme Court in December 2016 ordered the destruction of Elazar's Netiv Ha'avot neighborhood, after an unclaimed strip of land was found to run through it.

In September, the State informed the Supreme Court that it supported the petition of the residents of six houses slated for demolition to have only the small sections of their homes which were built on privately owned land demolished. However, in October, the Supreme Court rejected the residents' request and ordered the homes destroyed completely.