Tractor in Givat Amal Bet
Tractor in Givat Amal BetFlash 90

MK Miri Regev (Likud), the Chairwoman of the Knesset's Internal Affairs and Environment Committee toured Tel Aviv suburb Givat Amal Monday afternoon, hours after its residents had been evicted by force. 

Police forces arrived at Givat Amal in the morning to evict the last remaining eight families who refused to leave the area.

Back in September police forcibly evicted around 20 families from Givat Amal Bet. 

The evictions were enforced after the court ruled that Givat Amal belonged to the contractor, billionaire businessman Yitzhak Tshuva, who had bought the land, and that the residents must leave. 

After the tour, Regev described the experience as "not easy." She added, "I saw the residents, helpless, being thrown into the street - mothers, families, and children." 

Regev then attacked the conduct of the Tel Aviv Municipality, which has not promised reimbursement to the residents for their homes due to lack of legal proof of ownership. 

"Unfortunately, the Municipality has abandoned its residents. The mayor must provide adequate alternative housing for the residents of Givat Amal by increasing building rights, or some other equivalent solution," Regev demanded. 

"We must find a just a humane solution for these people who have lost the roofs over their head and been thrown into the street." 

Regev's statements echo those of representatives' of the evicted families from earlier Monday. 

"We demand that (Tel Aviv mayor) Ron Huldai stop the violence directed at residents and promise now an alternate roof for the families," they stated. 

Regev added that she too was taking the initiative to finding a solution by stating, "I have asked the [Internal Affairs] Committee to convene an urgent meeting to discuss the evacuation from Givat Amal." 

"I will continue and will be watching this issue closely in hopes of finding an appropriate and respectful solution to the real plight of these residents," she concluded. 

Regev's presence at the site signals an unusual bipartisan support between Right and Left on the issue. MK Ilan Gilon of the left-wing Meretz party was one of hundreds of activists at Givat Amal protesting the morning's eviction.