Yitzhar Residents Demand Demolition of Structures After Stone-Throwing Attack

Following a stone-throwing incident on the access road to Yitzhar, the settlement's secretariat has sent an urgent letter to the commander of the Samaria Brigade, Colonel David Cohen. The residents are demanding the demolition of structures and the uprooting of trees that they claim are used as cover by stone-throwers. They also called for the cancellation of olive harvest permits in the area and the enforcement of demolition orders against illegal construction.

The letter, which was also sent to Minister of Defense Israel Katz, Minister in the Ministry of Defense Bezalel Smotrich, GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, and Head of the Shomron Regional Council Yossi Dagan, warns that the recent incident, which occurred on Sunday, nearly resulted in a disaster. The residents are urging the IDF to take immediate action to restore security to the sole access route to the settlement.

According to the Yitzhar secretariat, attackers from the village of Burin hurled stones at families returning home. The attack took place just dozens of meters from an IDF post, with the perpetrators using the darkness and nearby structures and orchards to approach the road and then escape. The secretariat noted this as a further escalation in a series of stone-throwing incidents on the Gilad Road, which they claim number in the hundreds in recent years.

They also pointed out that on Friday, Palestinians from Burin attacked ATV riders, and on Saturday night, stones were thrown at a bus on the road. The secretariat emphasized that the latest incident was particularly severe because the attackers came directly to the settlement's access road.

In response to these events, the Yitzhar secretariat is demanding several security measures. These include demolishing structures and uprooting trees and orchards adjacent to the road, which they allege serve as hiding places for attackers. The letter also calls for the demolition of a house near the junction and another house across the road, which the secretariat claims facilitates crossing the road. Furthermore, the residents are demanding the immediate cancellation of all olive harvest permits in the sector and the enforcement of demolition orders against illegal construction in Area C outside Burin, which they argue compromises traffic safety on the routes.

The Yitzhar secretariat stated, "We were a hair's breadth from disaster. The only way to cut off the rising wave of terror and provide residents with basic security on their way home is to create a perimeter clear of structures and orchards near the road, alongside exacting a heavy and unequivocal price from the rioters."