Homesh preparing another Kfar Darom
Between 800 to 1,000 settlers and infiltrators in West Bank settlement prepare for fierce struggle against evacuating forces; Local yeshiva students and hundreds of infiltrators are setting up barricade on settlement rooftops, barbwire fences have been placed around a few homes
A riot broke out in the West Bank settlement of Homesh as ideological infiltrators attempted to make their way into the settlement ahead of its upcoming evacuation.
IDF soldiers chased after the infiltrators as Palestinian bystanders cheered them on.
Between 800 to 1,000 settlers and infiltrators in Homesh are preparing for a fierce struggle against their evacuation from the area.
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Barbwire surrounding settler home in Homesh (Photo: Ahiya Raved)
“You can be certain the struggle here will be at an even greater level than the one that took place in Kfar Darom,” one settler told Ynet.
Local yeshiva students and hundreds of infiltrators are setting up barricade on settlement rooftops, and barbwire fences have been placed around a few homes.
Many Homesh settlers have expressed their bewilderment at how the IDF was able to “sweep” the residents of Gush Katif.
The locals have stockpiled food and drinking bottles, and each family has received packets of pasta and rice.
'The country betrayed me twice'
Of the 50 or so Homesh families, 23 refuse to evacuate the settlement, and only six of those are secular.
Homesh, established in 1985, is in its essence a secular settlement of people who were seeking a better standard of living “just five minutes from Kfar Saba,“ but instead found themselves in a deep crisis. A short time after the second intifada erupted, three Homesh settlers were murdered during terror attacks within a 10-day period.
Dozens of families left in the aftermath of the tragedies; the settlement declined and had a difficult time recuperating. However, the void was filled by some 20 other religious families who arrived in Homesh from nearby West Bank settlements.
Shuli and Limor Har-Melech moved to the settlement in 2001. Two years later, Shuli was killed by terrorist fire on Alon Road; Limur was seriously wounded, but was able to give birth to a baby daughter just three hours after the deadly attack.
“I feel as thought the country betrayed me twice,” she said. “The first time was when I lied in my car bleeding for fifteen minutes after the attack, and soldiers in a nearby base who heard the gunfire were afraid to come and help me until the terrorists escaped. My home was ruined then – it took me years to rebuild it, and now the country is ruining it for a second time.
Security forces are already positioned at the intersection leading from Homesh to Shavei Shomron in the south and to Sa Nur in the north. Military officers and Border Guard jeeps are patrolling the area, and buses carrying more troops are making their way to area as well.
