Just hours after the terrorist attack that claimed the lives of two IDF soldiers near Hebron, Civil Administration enforcement units began operating on Friday to demolish illegal structures in the outskirts of the city, near the scene of the attack.
The operations were ordered by Bezalel Smotrich, a Minister in the Defense Ministry, who arrived at the scene to oversee the operation.
According to a statement from the Minister's office, the forces will demolish dozens of structures in the area in coordination with the IDF and the Civil Administration. The minister presented the move as part of the response to the attack and as a step designed to increase deterrence.
"As part of our efforts to establish deterrence and exact a price for the serious confrontation, we are now carrying out a series of demolitions of illegal structures here, in coordination with the military and the Civil Administration," he said during his visit to the scene.
"We are already here with heavy machinery on the ground, sending an unequivocal message to our enemies: Whoever messes with us will pay a very painful price."
Alongside the demolitions, the minister announced that four additional farms in the southern Hebron Hills had been approved today.
"We are continuing both to do good and to turn away from evil," he said.
According to the minister, the demolitions are expected to continue until the onset of Shabbat. "By Shabbat, we will demolish quite a few structures here, and it will be clear that terrorism targeting Israeli civilians carries a very heavy price. This is just the beginning."
He also stated that he had reached an agreement with the Prime Minister and Defense Minister to map the area and additional locations throughout Judea and Samaria, with the aim of concentrating efforts and expanding operations. "We have also agreed with the Prime Minister and Defense Minister to map this area and many other areas, concentrate our efforts, exact a price, and establish deterrence. Jewish blood is not cheap."
At the conclusion of his remarks, he thanked the commander of the IDF Central Command, the deputy head of the Civil Administration for civilian affairs, the Civil Administration's Infrastructure Department, and personnel from its Inspection Unit, who, he said, had been called away from their homes on Friday to carry out the demolitions.