Israeli troops demolished two structures in an illegal settlement outpost in the northern West Bank in a pre-dawn operation on Thursday, military officials said. Troops and police entered the outpost and demolished a residential building and a goatshed, both of which were built on private Palestinian land, police and the military said.
“The operation in Mitzpe Yitzhar was in accordance with a Supreme Court order to remove these structures by the end of the year because they are built on private Palestinian land,” said Guy Inbar, spokesman for COGAT, the military unit responsible for civilian affairs in the West Bank. Mitzpe Yitzhar outpost is an informal extension of the nearby Yitzhar settlement which lies five kilometres (three miles) south of Nablus.
\The outpost has never been formally recognised by the Israeli government and is home to some six families. Settler activists had hoped to prevent the operation but appeared to be taken by surprise, with troops reportedly entering the area via a Palestinian village, then declaring the outpost a closed military zone.
Moves by the state to dismantle outposts often spark so-called “price tag” attacks by extremist settlers on Palestinians and their property, which lately have also been aimed at the army and leftwing Israeli activists.
