Some of the settlers residing in the illegal West Bank outpost of Migron began leaving the outpost in the early hours of Sunday morning, ahead of the court mandated eviction, set for Tuesday. The families headed to their new homes, in the West Bank settlement of Ofra.
The settlers pledged only peaceful resistance, but dozens of teens, who reside in nearby outposts, arrived at Migron and confronted Border Guard officers securing the area, in protest of the eviction.
Several of them then entered one of the homes, climbed up to its roof and refused to come down. Others barricaded themselves in a nearby caravan.
After several hours, during which security forces attempted to reason with the teens, Central Control Unit officers stormed the residence and the teens were forcibly removed from the premises, while resisting the troops.
Border Guard forces have been deployed across the roads leading to Migron, in order to prevent any extreme elements from furher fanning the flames.
GOC Central Command Maj.-Gen Nitzan Alon arrived in Migron to personally supervise the eviction process. Prior to his arrival, Central Control Unit officers arrived at the outpost with the official court writs ordering the eviction.
Rabbi Mordecai Rabinovitch, who refused to accept the eviction order delivered to his home, said that the security forces were operating immorally.
"This it a clearly immoral act, even if it is backed by a High Court of Justice order. I don\’t know what a \’peaceful evacuation\’ means. All I know is that we are to settle the Land of Israel, which was stolen from us and we came back to it," he said.
A statement issued by the settlers read as follows: "This week, the forces of destruction sent by Netanyahu, Begin and Ya\’alon, will rise on Migron to destroy it.
"The residents of Migron feel betrayed and pained by this move, and protest the miserable, unnecessary devastation about to happen here.
"The residents of Migron never have, and never will, cooperate with the razing of their community. We call on everyone to protest and decry the terrible destruction condoned by the Likud government.
"To all those who seek to harm us, we say: We will not break and we will not yield. Today everyone already knows – the story of Migron will end with at least two new communities."