IDF bars settlers from living in illegal West Bank outpost of Ramat Migron

The Israel Defense Forces has declared the West Bank hilltop on which the illegal settlement outpost of Ramat Migron is located a closed military area, effectively prohibiting settler activists from living at the site.

The duration of the order, which was confirmed by the IDF Spokesman’s Division, is for just one month, ending October 1.

Ramat Migron was evacuated and demolished three times by the police and Civil Administration department of the Defense Ministry during the course of August, with the latest demolition taking place last Tuesday.

The closed military area order was issued on Thursday morning by IDF Central Command head Maj. Gen. Yehudah Fuchs, according to outpost residents, although the IDF did not confirm who signed the order.

Border Police personnel arrived at Ramat Migron, north of Jerusalem, on Thursday morning to inform the settlers of the order.

Residents of the unauthorized outpost had already begun to reconstruct the settlement, having erected homes and a sheep pen since the site was razed last week.

The closed military area order appears to have been issued in order to halt the ongoing reconstruction effort and the repeated rebuilding campaigns conducted by the residents and settler activists after each demolition.

Three families lived at the outpost, together with several youth activists, including a goatherd and shepherd.

The settlers have been able to swiftly rebuild their homes and other structures by use of prefabricated walls made of insulation material clad with thin metal sheets which are inexpensive and also quick and easy to turn into houses.

The residents of Ramat Migron said the military order was “a new record in draconian persecution against settlement in Judea and Samaria,” and alleged that the repeated efforts to quash the outpost were due to pressure from the Palestinian Authority.

“Imposing a closed military area order on the pioneering hilltop which is full of life, where families and children live and protect the land of the Jewish people from being seized by Arabs, is an anti-Zionist crime,” the residents said in a statement to the press.

They added that they had “no intention of surrendering and we will continue to fight for Jewish control of this strategic ridge no matter what.”

Later on Thursday, the Ramat Migron activists visited Rabbi Haim Druckman, one of the most authoritative and respected leaders of the religious-Zionist community and a founder of the Gush Emunim settlement movement.

Druckman called for the general public to “support with an open heart and a generous hand” the effort to permanently establish Ramat Migron, and denounced the repeated demolitions of the site.