BICOM

Israel Border Police peacefully evacuated all 50 families living in the Migron outpost on Sunday, ending a decade long battle the West Bank residents had waged in the courts to keep their homes.

The majority of Migron’s families left peacefully, however, minor violence broke out in two parts of the outpost as settler youths from other areas clashed with police. After the eviction eight youths, who had barricaded themselves in homes, were arrested for assaulting officers.

On Sunday evening, following the evacuation, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the demolition of Migron was a matter of law, and not a political statement about the future of the settlement movement. ‘We have an obligation to respect the rule of law and an obligation to strengthen settlements,’ Netanyahu said. ‘There is no contradiction between these two things.’

‘I welcome the fact that the matter of Migron, like that of Ulpana [an outpost on the outskirts of the Beit El settlement] ended responsibly through dialogue and not violence. This is how it should be and this is how it was,’ he added.

The High Court had ordered all 50 Migron families to leave no later than Tuesday, saying their homes were built without permits on private Palestinian land. Last month 17 of the families petitioned the High Court to remain, saying they had bought the land on which their homes stood. The court rejected the claim but said the structures on one lot could remain until the investigation into the purchase was completed.