A large force of police and IDF Civil Administration personnel, together with heavy machinery, raided the Or Meir hilltop community in the Binyamin region at 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday and demolished its homes and goat pen.
After the demolition, the residents had to rescue several animals trapped under the ruins of the goat pen. The IDF deemed the hilltop a closed military zone and soldiers are preventing entry to the area.
The community was established approximately a year and a half ago and overlooks thousands of dunams kept in Jewish possession through agriculture and grazing. Recently the community has been victim to several attacks by Arabs from the nearby village of Dayr Dibwan which on two occasions included the poisoning of the flock of sheep in the grazing areas.
The demolition at Or Meir joins another demolition by the Civil Administration last week at the Or Nachman hilltop community which was established in memory of Nachman Shmuel Mordoff, who was murdered in a shooting attack in June 2023. Two families who lived on the hilltop were evicted from their homes.
Yishai Kalaf, a resident of Or Nachman who was evicted last week, criticized the government on Tuesday: "The right-wing government could have brought victory in Gaza and a change of strategy in Judea and Samaria, but unfortunately, it is failing with both of them. In the face of the government's sloppiness, which goes hand in hand with the Palestinian Authority, we will continue to hold on to this land even if we're evicted 100 times."