Large contingents of Border Police and Civil Administration personnel arrived overnight at Kfar Tarfon in the Binyamin region, near the community of Ateret, and demolished three homes and additional structures used by residents of the outpost. Two vehicles and a large quantity of equipment were also confiscated during the operation.
According to a statement from the residents, the officers ordered two families living there to remain inside their homes while the other structures were demolished using engineering equipment.
Kfar Tarfon residents claim the demolition operation stems from legal proceedings initiated following a petition by Palestinians who, they allege, had previously encroached on the Khirbet Tarfin archaeological site near the outpost.
According to the residents, the historic site dates to the Second Temple period and has suffered damage to ancient remains and antiquities looting for years. They claim the trespassers were previously removed by the Civil Administration but later returned and built two homes there.
They say that after the outpost was established, those Palestinians petitioned the Supreme Court to order the IDF to allow them to return to the area and take action to evacuate the outpost.
The residents claimed, "The looting of antiquities and destruction of the site stopped when the outpost was established because of the Jewish presence there, but the theater of the absurd did not end there. The Arab trespassers, who claim that the outpost's presence prevented them from continuing their criminal activity at the archaeological site over the past year, petitioned the Supreme Court, where they brazenly demanded that it order the IDF to provide security for their return to the site and order the state to evacuate the outpost."
"Unfortunately, despite the absurdity, the court did not choose to dismiss it outright and use the Arabs' admission that they built the homes as grounds to prosecute them for destroying heritage treasures. Puzzlingly, the Defense Ministry and the Civil Administration did not attempt to challenge this baseless petition in court, and not only did they fail to clarify that these are trespassers who should be arrested, they also carried out violent and brutal demolitions at the outpost overnight."