A large force of Border Police officers and Civil Administration inspectors demolished structures overnight (Monday) at two hilltop encampments in the Binyamin region.

The forces raided the Gur Ariyeh hilltop near Adam, where they demolished the residents' residences and a sheep pen. After that, they continued to the Kol Mevaser hilltop near Michmas, where they destroyed its structures.

Residents of the communities expressed fury over the move. One of them, who resides in Kol Mevaser, noted that the encampment sits on an especially strategic slope and that the nearby Arab village is carrying out illegal construction with the support of the Palestinian Authority. "The state abandons entire tracts of land, and if we won't be here, we won't have where to return," the residents said.

They claim that the state does not appreciate Jewish settlement at strategic locations in Binyamin. "We are not enemies, we are pioneers, the same as at other settlement sites in Judea and Samaria. We will continue to build and will not give up."