In a peculiarly timed action, IDF forces evacuated the Jewish residents of Hilltop 26 outside Hevron at 1 AM this morning - the site where Palestinian terrorists murdered Netanel Ozeri just over two months ago. A group of local residents has already returned to the site, however, saying that they will not accept the removal of Jews from their homes. They said they saw grim scenes of destruction, including toys and children's books strewn all over. Army sources say they didn't want to take the action until the initial month-long mourning period was completed, and that this was the "first appropriate time" since then.
Ozeri, his wife, and their five children lived on the hilltop until the brutal Friday night murder by terrorists who infiltrated the area. Two of the Ozeris' guests were also wounded in the attack.
As soon as the weeklong "shiva" mourning period ended, the widow Livnat Ozeri and her five children returned to live on the hilltop. Late last night, without prior warning, IDF forces surprised the family, as well as a few guards and other singles living there, and forcibly evicted them from the area. Army bulldozers then destroyed the three small buildings on the strategic hill, thus erasing all signs of Jewish presence there. Livnat said this morning, "My children will now forever remember the traumatic murder of their father during Shabbat dinner, and the second attack on our home by our own government. They have 'murdered us and inherited us.'"
Livnat's father Sha'ul Nir said, "To wake up five orphans in the middle of the night, and put them into police wagons as they're rubbing their eyes, with giant bulldozers around their home, only two months after they lost their father - and then to destroy their home with [much of] the contents inside - there are no words to describe this other than pre-meditated evil." See pictures of the destruction here.
Kiryat Arba Mayor Tzvi Katzover had harsh words regarding the dismantling of Hilltop 26. "This was a shameful deed," he told Arutz-7's Kobi Sela today. "O.C. Central Command Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky interpreted the Supreme Court decision [banning permanent Jewish structures there] much too broadly, and ordered the erasure of every last vestige of Jewish presence from the hilltop, even though he did not have to. It was done in a hurtful and offensive manner to the Ozeri family, who only two months ago lost their father/husband." The outpost is located only a few hundred meters to the east of the main highway leading from Jerusalem to Kiryat Arba.
He also said that Prime Minister Sharon "promised recently to create Jewish contiguity between Kiryat Arba and Hevron, but instead we have received a 'contiguity' of murderous terrorist attacks and the dismantling of Jewish outposts." Katzover said that taking down Hilltop 26 is "a prize for the murderers of Netanel Ozeri, and a way of telling the terrorists: You have won."
The Tekumah party, a faction of the government coalition member National Union party, also condemned the evacuation today.
It should be noted that dozens of Israeli cars have been damaged over the past few days in rock-throwing attacks in Judea, particularly on the Jerusalem-Hevron highway. Kol Rina News Agency reports that Arab stoning attacks have increased in the area of late as IDF forces have been thinned out. "Already this morning," read messages sent out over local pagers, "two buses and [many] cars have been damaged. The army hasn’t succeeded in overcoming the problem. Anyone who can do something should contact the commanding officer of the region."
A Hevron spokesman asked, "Why can’t the army stop the stone-throwing? Because they are busy tearing down houses of widows and orphans... It seems that Arik Sharon is seriously considering forcible evacuation of communities in Yesha. Otherwise, actions such as last night’s upheaval would not have occurred. The writing is on the wall. It’s time to wake up, before we find ourselves swimming in the Mediterranean."
Ozeri, his wife, and their five children lived on the hilltop until the brutal Friday night murder by terrorists who infiltrated the area. Two of the Ozeris' guests were also wounded in the attack.
As soon as the weeklong "shiva" mourning period ended, the widow Livnat Ozeri and her five children returned to live on the hilltop. Late last night, without prior warning, IDF forces surprised the family, as well as a few guards and other singles living there, and forcibly evicted them from the area. Army bulldozers then destroyed the three small buildings on the strategic hill, thus erasing all signs of Jewish presence there. Livnat said this morning, "My children will now forever remember the traumatic murder of their father during Shabbat dinner, and the second attack on our home by our own government. They have 'murdered us and inherited us.'"
Livnat's father Sha'ul Nir said, "To wake up five orphans in the middle of the night, and put them into police wagons as they're rubbing their eyes, with giant bulldozers around their home, only two months after they lost their father - and then to destroy their home with [much of] the contents inside - there are no words to describe this other than pre-meditated evil." See pictures of the destruction here.
Kiryat Arba Mayor Tzvi Katzover had harsh words regarding the dismantling of Hilltop 26. "This was a shameful deed," he told Arutz-7's Kobi Sela today. "O.C. Central Command Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky interpreted the Supreme Court decision [banning permanent Jewish structures there] much too broadly, and ordered the erasure of every last vestige of Jewish presence from the hilltop, even though he did not have to. It was done in a hurtful and offensive manner to the Ozeri family, who only two months ago lost their father/husband." The outpost is located only a few hundred meters to the east of the main highway leading from Jerusalem to Kiryat Arba.
He also said that Prime Minister Sharon "promised recently to create Jewish contiguity between Kiryat Arba and Hevron, but instead we have received a 'contiguity' of murderous terrorist attacks and the dismantling of Jewish outposts." Katzover said that taking down Hilltop 26 is "a prize for the murderers of Netanel Ozeri, and a way of telling the terrorists: You have won."
The Tekumah party, a faction of the government coalition member National Union party, also condemned the evacuation today.
It should be noted that dozens of Israeli cars have been damaged over the past few days in rock-throwing attacks in Judea, particularly on the Jerusalem-Hevron highway. Kol Rina News Agency reports that Arab stoning attacks have increased in the area of late as IDF forces have been thinned out. "Already this morning," read messages sent out over local pagers, "two buses and [many] cars have been damaged. The army hasn’t succeeded in overcoming the problem. Anyone who can do something should contact the commanding officer of the region."
A Hevron spokesman asked, "Why can’t the army stop the stone-throwing? Because they are busy tearing down houses of widows and orphans... It seems that Arik Sharon is seriously considering forcible evacuation of communities in Yesha. Otherwise, actions such as last night’s upheaval would not have occurred. The writing is on the wall. It’s time to wake up, before we find ourselves swimming in the Mediterranean."