Settlers planning ‘protest’ in West Bank this evening against outpost demolitions

Settlers are planning protest activity at 8 p.m. this evening, in response to what they say are repeated demolitions of illegal settlement outposts.

“In recent weeks, we have witnessed a change for the worse in the attitude of IDF Central Command towards settlements,” reads a statement posted by an administrator in the Hilltop News WhatsApp channel.

“Demolition forces are sent almost every night to demolish settlement outposts in Samaria, Benjamin, and Gush Etzion,” the message adds in reference to several settlement municipal districts in the West Bank.

“Brutal destruction, confiscation of flocks, and destruction of property!” the statement adds in reference to enforcement action by the IDF and the Civil Administration against some illegal outposts.

“Tonight at 8 p.m. we are going to protest across Judea and Samaria [West Bank],” the message adds.

Last week the illegal outpost of Kol Mevaser was demolished. It is located in a closed military zone, and settlers living there have since began to rebuild it. Residents of the Palestinian town of Mukhmas and the nearby Bedouin hamlet of Khalet al-Sidra have alleged that the outpost has been a source of ongoing violence and harassment towards them.

The illegal outpost of Or Nachman was also demolished last week, but activists have similarly begun to rebuild that site too.

The Peace Now organization, which campaigns against the settlement movement, calls on the police commissioner to thwart what it says is the “pogrom” being planned by the settlers.

Six Palestinian civilians have been shot dead by settlers since the beginning of March, while other violent attacks by such radical elements against Palestinians and civil rights activists seeking to protect them have become a daily occurrence in the West Bank.