Ofra Evictions Near End
The last family of the nine Ofra houses, the Kfir family, has been evacuated. The Ofra community reported the collective support for the families and vowed the community will continue to build.
“We are at the end of a painful and difficult day”, stated the Ofra Steering Committee. “The Ofra settlement will prevail. Those who preach destruction and sacrifice will not. Instead of nine houses, we will build 200 and hopefully this perverse verdict will lead to the regulation of the community. This is the end of the chapter, but the fight is far from over”.
Avi Roeh, Yesha Council chairman, echoed the sentiment and promised further construction for the community.
Two protesters have been arrested for attacking police officers and eight members of the evacuation force were lightly wounded in Ofra on Tuesday as teenage protesters faced off with eviction forces for the second time in a month.
Four officers were evacuated for medical treatment, and four more received first aid on site and returned to participate in the force implementing the Supreme Court’s order to remove residents and demolish the homes. In addition, right-wing protesters erected barricades of burning tires at the entrance to Jerusalem and others blocked Route 60, the main north-south highway through Judea and Samaria.
Despite the protests, however, the level of violence has not reached the level experienced during last month’s Amona demolition. For the most part interactions between settlement supporters and security forces have been tense but non-violent, with adult leaders of the Ofra community and the wider settlement movement on hand to ensure that there would be no repeat of the clashes that marred the previous encounter. Chananel Kfir, a resident of the condemned homes, accused police of spreading rumors that there was acid inside the Kfir home in order to justify violence when clearing the home, but said there was no basis to the rumor and pledged to resist the evacuation passively.
As in Amona, security forces allowed hundreds of teenagers to penetrate the nine homes slated for demolition in Ofra after beginning preparations to begin carrying out a Court order to remove the families from their homes. But residents of the homes took care to ensure that minors were not allowed to steer the demonstrations in a direction of violence by ensuring that the protests and interaction with security forces were guided by adults.
As a result, the day was marked largely by singing, as yeshiva students bombarded eviction forces with spontaneous renditions of religious songs about redemption, the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel, selections from the Book of Psalms and the national anthem, Hatikva.
In reaction to the evictions, the National Union faction of the Jewish Home political party said “After the demolition of Amona and now of more homes in Ofra, this is the time for renewed building for the residents of Anona, Ofra and all the communities in Judea and Samaria. It is unbelievable that the State of Israel is destroying homes in a community that the State itself established, without any individual claiming that the land belongs to him or her. The High Court of Justice should protect residents and put an end to the lie of ‘privately-owned land’.
“The government has the ability to turn this train around and to start extensive building all over Judea and Samaria,” the faction said.
16:16 Hundreds of teenagers have crammed into the Kfir family home, the final home to be emptied.
17: 20 Hadassah Medical Center reports that five Border Guards from the evacuation forces were treated for very minor injuries in the emergency room of the center. Four were released and the fifth one will soon be too.
18:20 According to residents’ claims in Ofra, a total of 18 injured, most of them minors, were transferred to the MDA and IDF emergency tent for medical treatment. Two of them were transferred to hospitals, a minor with a wrist injury to Shaare Tzedek and an adult with bruises on the face to Hadassah Mt. Scopus hospital.
19:10 The Ofra community severely criticizes Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked for “disappearing inside the tunnels” instead of coming to Ofra or showing solidarity on the day their homes are evacuated. The community also called on the police to exercise restraints following complaints of a dozen of youngsters having been injured during the evacuations.
21: 00 Two Border Police guards were brought in to Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center with bruises on their faces.
*This is a developing story. TPS will provide additional details as they become available.