Havat Gilad
| Havat Gilad | |
|---|---|
 Havat Gilad
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| Coordinates: 32°12′49″N 35°10′27″E / 32.213663°N 35.174156°ECoordinates: 32°12′49″N 35°10′27″E / 32.213663°N 35.174156°E | |
| District | Judea and Samaria Area |
| Region | West Bank |
| Affiliation | Jewish |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Founded by | Itai Zar |
| Website | havatgilad |
Havat Gilad (Hebrew: חַוַּת גִּלְעָד, lit. Gilad Farm) is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank, beyond the jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council. It was established in 2002 in memory of Gilad Zar, security coordinator of the Shomron Regional Council, who was shot and killed in 2001. It is considered an unauthorized outpost by the Israeli government and is on a list of outposts that Israel promised the U.S. to dismantle. The outpost was dismantled several times, but settlers have returned and re-established it. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.
Havat Gilad is located on land allegedly privately owned by Moshe Zar, a religious Zionist and long-time friend of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He has been buying land in the West Bank from individual Palestinians since 1979. A number of Palestinians have taken him to court on claims that he falsified contracts. After his son Gilad was killed, he vowed that he would establish six settlements in his son′s memory, one for each Hebrew letter of his name.
There have been a number violent incidents involving Havat Gilad settlers. On October 16, 2002, journalists covering a so-called “quiet” evacuation at the outpost, were attacked by settlers, on October 19, 2002, a Shabbath, when the outpost was forcibly evacuated and all its buildings were razed by the Israel Defense Forces for the first time, about 1,000 settlers, trying to prevent the dismantling of the outpost, clashed with soldiers and police. During the two days of confrontations, 46 policemen, and dozens of male and female soldiers and settlers were lightly injured. Fifteen people were arrested, but were released a few days later. Some of the settlers were back at the outpost the next day and erected temporary structures which were dismantled a week later, but the settlers were back on the site after a few hours. In November, security forces decided to file charges against twelve of the protesters. In 2004, police arrested one settler, after armed settlers from the outpost had opened fire on shepherds from a nearby Palestinian village. In March 2009, five residents of the outpost were briefly arrested on suspicion of throwing stones at police, when security forces attempted to evacuate the site. In September of the same year, settlers and security forces clashed following an attempt by security forces to confiscate a truck which was supposedly used to illegally transport a mobile home to the site, leading to four arrests. In October 2010, Havat Gilad settlers set fire to olive trees belonging to Palestinian farmers of the village of Farata.
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Wikipedia