Civil Administration forces demolished a number of buildings on homesteads near the town of Pnei Kedem in Gush Etzion on Tuesday morning. Six houses have been destroyed so far, including one with a family living in it.
The demolition was secured by significant forces of Border Police, whom the residents claim confiscated their phones to prevent them documenting the incident.
During the demolition, a closed military zone order was issued for the entire region, including the access road to Pnei Kedem. Residents who were on their way to work were blocked by police for lengthy periods of time, and were allowed to continue only after extensive questioning.
After approximately 2 hours, MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism), who lives in Pnei Kedem, passed through the area and convinced the officers to allow residents to travel the road freely.
The residents of the demolished house declared the demolition “a knife in the back of the settlement.”
“We are still having trouble digesting what happened this morning. While many of the residents of the homesteads here are in reserve duty, and have been since the beginning of the war, the General Commanding Officer of our region has decided to send hundreds of officers on an uninhibited crusade of destruction against the settlement while our best men are fighting on the front now and just this past night one of them was killed in action in Gaza. We have no words to describe this disgrace. How is the General Commanding Officer not ashamed to commit such a crime as this?”
“Around us there are hundreds of illegal houses built by Arabs with a single goal - to create the infrastructure of a Palestinian state in this area. The General Commanding Officer does not touch them, because his goal is the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria, and the ones preventing the advancement of that dangerous vision of his are the Jewish homesteads on the front lines.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s office stated: “The demolition this morning was carried out against the directions of the Minister. Following the Minister's directions not to carry out any demolitions, the General Commanding Officer elected to classify the incident as an urgent security incident and so circumvented the authority of the Minister to receive the approval of the Defense Minister.”
Smotrich's office also noted that “The General Commanding Officer does not see it as urgent to demolish the illegal Bedouin houses in the same area, nor to prevent Arab construction in eastern Gush Etzion, or indeed any of Judea and Samaria.”
“We are sorry that on such a painful morning, and during this period, while the IDF is at war, the General Commanding Officer and Defense Minister have approved enforcement activities against settlers.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir commented: “On this painful morning, as we count our dead, as our soldiers are in Gaza and our nation is united, Minister Gallant is demolishing settlements. Instead of arresting and demolishing the illegal Palestinian takeover in this area, he has chosen to betray the settlers and soldiers. This is a continuation of the misconception and turns friends to enemies and enemies to friends.”