Forces again demolish illegal Tzur Harel outpost; settlers burn tires in protest

A large Border Police force together with Civil Administration personnel arrived at the illegal West Bank outpost of Tzur Harel early this morning and demolished four buildings constructed illegally at the site.

Shortly after the operation was completed, several settler activists returned to the site, which has now been declared a closed military zone, burning tires in protest at the demolition. Three of the activists are detained by the Border Police.

The Civil Administration points out that the outpost, in the Binyamin region of the West Bank, north of Jerusalem, is located on private Palestinian land.

At the beginning of July, extremist settler activists attacked Civil Administration and Border Police personnel during a similar operation to demolish the Tzur Harel outpost, throwing Molotov cocktails at the security forces, burning tires and setting a vehicle on fire at the entrance to the outpost when the forces arrived to evacuate the site.

According to the left-wing Peace Now organization which campaigns against the settlements, 25 illegal outposts have been established by settler activists since the outbreak of the war on Hamas in Gaza following the October 7 atrocities.