The Civil Administration’s enforcement unit carried out a major operation Wednesday in Samaria and the Hebron Hills, clearing illegal encroachments and demolishing structures near new communities as part of what Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich described as a four-year push to strengthen Israeli control in the West Bank.
The operation, conducted under Smotrich’s direction in his role as minister in the Defense Ministry, removed illegal plantings and encroachments spanning roughly 20 acres of state land near Mekadeh in the Hebron Hills. Near Shira in Samaria—slated to become a major city following a historic cabinet decision—enforcement teams demolished illegal structures built close to the community.
1+The targeted enforcement is central to what officials call a national policy to restore full Israeli sovereignty and control in its territory, running parallel to the declaration of new communities and the advancement of statutory procedures.
The crackdown on illegal construction aims to prevent the seizure of strategic areas and enable the development, expansion and security of Jewish communities in the region.
1+Smotrich, who chairs the Religious Zionism party and serves as both finance minister and minister in the Defense Ministry, emphasized the significance of the move. “In the last four years, we’ve been leading a determined policy of fortifying and strengthening settlement, alongside removing threats to the area and demolishing illegal construction on an unprecedented scale,” he said. “This is what the Eisenkot-Liberman-Golan government wants to stop, and we can’t let that happen.”
Smotrich added a strategic dimension to the operation: “The demolition of structures near the Shira community takes on additional meaning when you can clearly see the houses of nearby Rosh HaAyin in the demolition photo, illustrating precisely how these communities serve as Israel’s security buffer zone. I thank the Civil Administration enforcement unit and the Settlement Administration for leading these critical moves.”