Israeli police standing ready to evacuate the settlement of Ofra. Photo: Twitter.

JNS.org – Some 100 Israeli security officers arrived Tuesday in the Samaria community of Ofra to carry out the court-ordered eviction of nine homes that were illegally built on private Palestinian land. The evictions were carried out a week ahead of the March 5 deadline set by the court.

The security officers arrived at the settlement unarmed. Hundreds of protesters barricaded themselves in one of the nine homes slated for eviction and faced off against security forces, while others climbed on the roof and urged police to refuse the eviction orders.

Ofra-based Rabbi Avi Gisser had instructed the settlement’s residents to show restraint and mount only nonviolent resistance to the eviction.

“What’s happening here is a great injustice. No one will gain anything from it. This is destruction for the sake of destruction only. Nevertheless, we are law-abiding citizens, and there will be no violence here,” Gisser said.