The government sent a tractor and 100 special Yassam policemen to the community of Bat Ayin, in western Gush Etzion, at 5 a.m. Wednesday morning and destroyed two dwellings built without permits. No arrests were made and there was no violence.
One person reportedly was lightly injured by the tractor but apparently fled to the adjacent forest in order to escape possible arrest.
Two young couples were living in the buildings, made of stone, wood and cloth, and both wives are in advanced stages of pregnancy. They built the homes in the forest on the outskirts of Bat Ayin to establish a natural lifestyle, Bat Ayin resident Daniel Winston told Israel National News.
The homes also were intended to strengthen security for the community, and they stood approximately 300 feet from the point where Arab terrorists murdered Erez Levanon three years ago.
The government has continued its policy of destroying Jewish homes that were built without permits although the High Court has criticized the policy of ignoring orders to level illegally built Arab homes.
Wednesday morning’s appearance of Yassam police was the first time they have entered the community since last year, when they arrived to extricate an undercover agent who arrested two young boys. Bat Ayin residents had closed all exits to prevent the arrests until a massive police force arrived.