The IDF over the weekend prevented local and foreign left-wing activists accompanied by Arab supporters from rebuilding an outpost near Yata in the Hebron region. The group numbered about 30 people.

Arabs report that a very short time after arriving with tents the IDF arrived on the scene and the commander declared the area a ‘closed military zone’. The road was blocked to prevent others from reaching the area and they were instructed to leave the area. The group managed to maintain a standoff for about 12 hours before being dispersed with the use of riot control adjuncts.

The organizers remain undeterred, telling the press this was their fifth attempt in recent weeks and they plan to redeem to “liberate their land from the occupiers”.

Last week, a group of about 200 tried to set up an outpost near Burin in Shomron. There were scuffles between the Arabs, the IDF and residents of nearby Yitzhar. A Yitzhar spokesman warns security officials that this appears to be the new area targeted by European extremists here to inflame the situation, similar to that Beilin near Hashmonaim, where weekly Friday violence was a regular event over a period of years. It became an attraction for European anarchists arriving in Israel to advance the PA cause against Israel.

Jibril Rajoub, who recently announced that Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid is “a reasonable man” and his inclusion in the coalition is accompanied by a new hope for jumpstarting the peace process seems to be behind the PA outposts. According to a Makor Rishon report on Shabbos, Rajoub is working hard behind the scenes to encourage and orchestrate the growing Arab outpost effort, seeking to create facts on the ground ahead of a resumption of talks between Israel and the PA (Palestinian Authority).

It reports that Rajoub maintains good connections with Hamas, and he decided to move things along, beginning the new PA outpost movement that attracted foreign anti-Israel activists as well.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)