More than 500 security troops destroyed Givat Shalhevet, near Shechem and associated with the nearby community of Yitzhar. Police arrested 19 protestors, including one woman who suffered a fractured hip and was hospitalized.
"I have been in all the evacuations here, but I've never seen anything as brutal," said Yitzhar's administrator Tzvi Berenstock. Police said the operation was kept secret, unlike previous attempts to dismantle the site, which has been a source of constant friction between residents and security forces.
"If this is the model they intend to use to uproot (Jewish communities), they are sorely mistaken," said one of the protestors. "It is one thing to clear basically empty mobile homes and quite another to uproot families, tearing them from home and work."
Police and army personnel used bulldozers to wreck two empty trailer homes at Givat Lehavah. Previously, security forces towed away mobile homes.
About 150 protestors were at the site even though there was no advance notice. "We kept the utmost secrecy this time," said police official Shlomo Sagi. Previously, Yitzhar residents were able to bring up to 1,000 protestors when there was advance notice that police were about to try to dismantle the homes.
According to most eyewitnesses, a soldier opened fire when part of the crowd surrounded him as he tried to arrest a girl who allegedly tried to puncture tires of an army vehicle. Army spokesman said protestors had tried to take the soldier's weapon and he fired in self-defense.
Protesters at the site told Arutz-7, "The soldier turned around, readied his weapon for firing and threatened he would shoot if we didn’t keep our distance. The crowd tried to tell him to calm down and he shot over their heads."
Protestors cursed the security officials, two of whom were lightly injured when slipping on oil that residents had spread on the ground. Demonstrators threw stones at police, injuring one lightly. About 10 people were injured. One of those arrested was a soldier on leave who was charged by military police with encouraging defense forces to refuse orders.
Earlier in the day, soldiers at a checkpoint in Samaria prevented an Elon Moreh resident from traveling towards Yitzhar, claiming the army had declared the area closed to civilians. After the solider could not display the supposed command and the resident asked to be allowed to continue, the soldier readied his weapon for fire.
Click here for photos of the clash in Outpost.
"I have been in all the evacuations here, but I've never seen anything as brutal," said Yitzhar's administrator Tzvi Berenstock. Police said the operation was kept secret, unlike previous attempts to dismantle the site, which has been a source of constant friction between residents and security forces.
"If this is the model they intend to use to uproot (Jewish communities), they are sorely mistaken," said one of the protestors. "It is one thing to clear basically empty mobile homes and quite another to uproot families, tearing them from home and work."
Police and army personnel used bulldozers to wreck two empty trailer homes at Givat Lehavah. Previously, security forces towed away mobile homes.
About 150 protestors were at the site even though there was no advance notice. "We kept the utmost secrecy this time," said police official Shlomo Sagi. Previously, Yitzhar residents were able to bring up to 1,000 protestors when there was advance notice that police were about to try to dismantle the homes.
According to most eyewitnesses, a soldier opened fire when part of the crowd surrounded him as he tried to arrest a girl who allegedly tried to puncture tires of an army vehicle. Army spokesman said protestors had tried to take the soldier's weapon and he fired in self-defense.
Protesters at the site told Arutz-7, "The soldier turned around, readied his weapon for firing and threatened he would shoot if we didn’t keep our distance. The crowd tried to tell him to calm down and he shot over their heads."
Protestors cursed the security officials, two of whom were lightly injured when slipping on oil that residents had spread on the ground. Demonstrators threw stones at police, injuring one lightly. About 10 people were injured. One of those arrested was a soldier on leave who was charged by military police with encouraging defense forces to refuse orders.
Earlier in the day, soldiers at a checkpoint in Samaria prevented an Elon Moreh resident from traveling towards Yitzhar, claiming the army had declared the area closed to civilians. After the solider could not display the supposed command and the resident asked to be allowed to continue, the soldier readied his weapon for fire.
Click here for photos of the clash in Outpost.