Israeli forces are reportedly in the process of demolishing and evacuating an illegal outpost in the West Bank, following reports of rampant violence and crime in the area.
Footage shared online showed forces advancing with bulldozers, accompanied by Israeli Border Police, towards the Tzur Misgavi outpost, located in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc in the West Bank, seeking to demolish it.
Videos shared on social media also showed clashes between settler activists and forces during the demolition process. Smoke can be seen billowing from the site. Members of the extremist settler Hilltop Youth group also clashed with Israel forces at a checkpoint leading to the Tzur Misgavi outpost.
Around 25 settler families live in the illegal outpost.
The Israeli military’s Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth issued the order, saying that "criminal activity and serious incidents of crime and violence had taken place at the site, which affected the security of the area," Israeli media said on Monday. The nature of violence, however, was not elaborated on.
COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry's civil administration in the occupied West Bank, said: "The IDF, including the Civil Administration and all security bodies, will continue to work to strengthen security and uphold law and order in Judea and Samaria, with an emphasis on enforcing action against structures built illegally, which harm the security and public order of all residents of the area."
Judea and Samaria is the provocative term Israeli politicians use to refer to the West Bank, illegally occupied since 1967.
Right-wing Israeli politicians, including Moshe Feiglin, slammed the decision to demolish the settlement, claiming that "the concept of liberty is foreign" to the Israeli government, justifying the outpost’s existence.
"Anything not managed by the state is invalid in their eyes and must be eliminated," Feiglin said on X, before adding that his Zehut Party will "ensure that the land of Israel belongs first and foremost to every Jew and Jew throughout the land – both in Tel Aviv and Gush Etzion".
Radical settler advocate Daniella Weiss, who has a track record of incitement against Palestinians, also called on settler activists to "struggle against the destruction," in response to the demolition.
Israeli settlement outposts, built on seized private Palestinian land, are illegal under both international and Israeli law, as they are often constructed without permission.
The Israeli government, however, has moved to recognise several in recent years, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s return to power in late 2022 at the head of Israel’s most extreme-right cabinet in years.
Gush Etzion is a cluster of Israeli settlements located south of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, also built in violation of international law.
Despite the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) ruling that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is illegal and its urging of Israel to halt settlement activities, Israel has continued to expand settlements, recently constructing and approving thousands of housing units across the territory.
Israeli settlers in the West Bank have perpetrated violence against Palestinians over the decades. Settlers have increasingly wreaked havoc in the West Bank in recent weeks amid the olive harvest season, attacking farmers, uprooting olive trees, and vandalising properties.
Israeli violence has surged in the West Bank since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, with at least 940 Palestinians killed by soldiers or settlers since then.