Footage allegedly shows settlers taking up residence in new homes, violating court injunctions

Footage released by the Peace Now organization appears to show settlers taking up residence in prefabricated West Bank homes in a legally controversial part of the Carmel settlement, in apparent defiance of a court order issued yesterday by the Jerusalem District Court.

Peace Now submitted a petition to the court last week, requesting that some seven prefabricated homes established on the outskirts of Carmel and just meters away from the Palestinian village of Umm al Khir in the South Hebron Hills be evacuated, arguing that the placement of the dwellings was carried out without authorization and in violation of zoning designations on the land in question.

Yesterday, the Jerusalem District Court issued a temporary injunction forbidding settlers from taking up residence in the homes, and prohibiting further work to pave a road to the structures until further notice.

Peace Now sends out footage of settlers apparently taking up residence in the structures this morning, in the presence of Har Hevron Regional Council chairman Eliram Azoulai.

משש בבוקר דיווחתי ליועמ"ש איו"ש וליועמ"ש משרד הביטחון; דיברתי עם משטרת חברון, עם חטיבת יהודה של הצבא, ועם חמ"ל המינהל האזרחי. תושבי אום אל ח'יר התקשרו שלוש פעמים ל-100.
וכלום.
מתנחלי כרמל ממשיכים בניחותא להפר את הצו של המחוזי בי-ם שאוסר לבצע בניה ולאכלס את המאחז החדש שלהם.
בקלות pic.twitter.com/f9KYY1pz4V

— Michael Sfard מיכאל ספרד (@sfardm) October 13, 2025

“While the people of Israel were moved by the return of the hostages, criminal settlers continued to ignore the legal system and advance the project of dispossession and plunder in the West Bank,” writes the left-wing organization, which campaigns against the settlements and for a two-state solution.

In August, when the construction work in the area began, Awdah Hathaleen, a prominent Palestinian activist featured in the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” was shot and killed, apparently by a known extremist settler who was conducting contract work for the building work.