A large contingent of Border Police forces were working Wednesday morning to demolish two illegally-constructed homes in the settlement outpost Kumi Ori near Yitzhar.
Both homes lie in Area B, which is under Palestinian civil control.
One of the homes belongs to Neria Zarog, who has refused to leave his home despite being in violation of a restraining order that requires him to stay out of the settlement. When security forces arrived to evacuate Zarog forcibly, he handcuffed himself to his house.
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The demolition was given a green light after the High Court of Justice rejected petitions from Zarog and Aaron Zuglan, who lives in the other home. The government and the military have both approved the demolitions.
Before the demolition process began, a senior security official warned the residents of the outpost not to attack security forces and said that any violence on their part would be met with a harsh response.
Watch: Illegally built homes in the settlement outpost Kumi Ori are demolished
"Any attempt to harm security forces carrying out their work to evacuate and demolish structures in the illegal outpost Kumi Ori will meet with zero tolerance," the official said.
"The residents need to behave responsibly and not get dragged into provocations and violence," the official added.
The administration of the Yitzhar settlement condemned the home demolitions and said that the action would do nothing to help calm the region.
"In the past few years, tens of thousands of illegal Arab buildings have been constructed in Judea and Samaria, and the Israeli government has chosen to focus on demolishing the homes of Jewish families in Yitzhar, while homes of terrorists who have Jewish blood on their hands remain standing," a message from the Yitzhar council read.
