Defense Ministry contractors arrived on Wednesday morning in Ofra to begin the demolition of nine houses slated for destruction by Israel's Supreme Court. On Tuesday, security forces evacuated residents and activists from the buildings, after the Supreme Court rejected residents' petitions to seal the homes instead of destroying them. By Wednesday morning, the only ones left in the homes were youth activists sitting on the roofs. Special forces arrived to remove the youths from the roofs. The Ofra Action Committee said the security forces involved in evicting the residents acted with unnecessary force towards both adults and youth. Though the residents did not get out of hand, those who remained in their home were "inexcusably abused" and 17 youths were injured, the Committee said. "Ofra's residents are lawful citizens, and deserve the right to peacefully protest the destruction of their homes. There is no justification for acting abusive for the sake of acting abusive," they said.
