From the Liveblog of
Sunday, January 22, 2023
Activists attempt to reestablish illegal settlement outpost in northern West Bank
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Radical settler activists attempt to reestablish an illegal settlement outpost called Or Haim in the northern West Bank after police and Civil Administration forces evacuated and destroyed structures at the site on Friday.
Video footage disseminated from the nascent outpost, east of the large settlement of Ariel, shows activists erecting various structures and security forces approaching the area and demanding the work halt and the activists disperse.
According to activists, seven people are detained at the site. Police officials do not immediately comment on the events.
A statement released in the name of the families says they will “continue to hold on to the hilltop even if we are evacuated 100 times.”
Five families established Or Haim on Thursday night, located next to the Migdalim settlement and overlooking the Trans-Samarian highway, including a grandson of the late Rabbi Haim Druckman, after whom the outpost is named.
The outpost was evacuated and destroyed on the orders of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, causing immediate tensions within the coalition between Likud and the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties.
The Times of Israel Community.