The Supreme Court delayed planned demolitions in the Gush Etzion town of Elazar on Wednesday, granting a request by the state to push off the evacuations of families slated for eviction on humanitarian grounds while replacement housing is built.
Supreme Court chief justice Esther Hayut approved the request, pushing off the demolitions by three months. Under the new order, the demolitions must carried out by the 15th of June.
“Following my response to a request by the state respondents… I believe that there are sufficient reasons in this case to justify a small delay in the execution of the [demolition] order,” wrote Hayut.
Fifteen homes in the neighborhood of Netiv Ha’avot in Elazar are facing demolition, following a Supreme Court ruling against the buildings after a strip of disputed land was found to run through the neighborhood.
The court has in the past rejected proposed compromises, including the removal of those portions of the homes which lay on the disputed land. In some cases, only small portions – as little as several feet – of the homes jut out into the disputed strip of land.
Earlier this week, the government approved plans for 350 new homes in Netiv Ha’avot, including, as well as plans for temporary housing for the residents of the homes now slated for demolition.
While the court accepted the state’s request for a delay in order to prepare temporary housing for the evictees, Hayut emphasized that the court would nix any attempts by the government to retroactively normalize the status of any of the 15 houses facing demolition.