At the night of the 29th of March 2012, a group of settlers took over a house in Hebron, not far from the Cave of the Patriarchs. The settlers claim to have bought the house from the owner, but the Palestinian owners claim that the property was never sold and filed a complaint in the police. In some cases in the past, when settlers took over houses in Hebron, the documents shown by the settlers were proven to be forged.
This is not the first time that settlers from Hebron attempt to create facts on the ground, while contending to doubtful acquisitions. On the 19th of March 2007, hundreds of settlers invaded the “House of Contention” During the legal procedures that followed the invasion, it was revealed that the settlers used forged documents that left the purchase claims questionable. The Minister of Defense refused to approve the deal, and on the 4.12.2008 the settlers were forcefully evicted, after a week of extensive violence with Palestinians and the military forces. Nonetheless, the settlers succeeded in causing the IDF to take hold of the house and establish a manned and permanent Border-Police military post at the site.
Even if the house would have been bought legally, still according to the law applied in the West Bank, the settlers are not allowed to enter the house without an approval of the Minister of Defense for the purchase of the property. The approval of the Minister is meant to prevent a situation where a small group of settlers would buy properties in Palestinian towns like Ramallah, Jenin or Hebron and create facts on the ground that will force the Israeli Army to protect them, and force the Israeli government to set a new settlement. The Minister of Defense has never approved the alleged purchase of the house in Hebron, and therefore the Israeli authorities must enforce the law and evict the settlers from the house.
This is not the first time that settlers from Hebron attempt to create facts on the ground, while contending to doubtful acquisitions. On the 19th of March 2007, hundreds of settlers invaded the “House of Contention” (also referred to as the “Brown House”) and established there a settlement. During the legal procedures that followed the invasion, it was revealed that the settlers used forged documents that left the purchase claims questionable. The Minister of Defense refused to approve the deal, and on the 4.12.2008 the settlers were forcefully evicted, after a week of extensive violence with Palestinians and the military forces. Nonetheless, the settlers succeeded in causing the IDF to take hold of the house and establish a manned and permanent Border-Police military post at the site.
Another case of gaining control of a house in Hebron occurred in April 2006, when several settler families entered the house of the Nazar family (named by the settlers as the “Shapira House”). In this incident, it became clear that the settlers claim for rights for the building are based on a deal with a person that was not the owner. The IDF forces evacuated the settlers several days after their invasion.
Perhaps the most outrageous case was the case of Bakri’s house in Hebron. In 2001 settlers invaded Zacharia Bakri’s house in Tel Rumeida in Hebron, arguing that they rented the house from the legal owners. An investigation by the Civil Administration revealed that the renter was not the owner, and that the settlers had no rights on the house. Despite this, nobody ever enforced the law on the settlers and they were never evicted. Zacaria Bakri turned to the magistrates’ court in Jerusalem demanding the evacuation of the setters. The court ruled that the settlers must evacuate the house in 30 days. As the 30 days passed, it was told to Bakri that the original settlers have indeed left the house, however new settlers have entered, and that he is welcome to turn once again to the court of justice.
Interestingly, one of the invaders to the Bakri House that the court ruled to evict was the settler Shlomo Levinger who is now leading the currant take-over of the settlers in the new house. It seems that the lack of law enforcement on the settlers encourages the continuation of the violation of the law.