Eight new outposts are being established in the Hebron Hills in response to Friday’s attack at Yehuda Junction, the Mount Hebron Regional Council announced on Sunday.
St.-Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, were killed in the shooting on Friday when two terrorists driving with an M4 machine gun and a pistol opened fire.
The attackers had originally intended to pass the junction and carry out a larger attack on the heavily traveled Route 35, IDF sources said, before realizing they would not get through the checkpoint.
“Out of the deep grief and pain over the terrible attack at Yehuda Junction in which soldiers Ron Yonatan and Yuval Shai were murdered, we choose to continue the construction and growth of settlement in the Yehuda region by establishing eight new points,” the council said, adding that it was fundraising to purchase security for the new outposts.
Simcha Raz, an Israeli journalist for the national-religious weekly magazine Olam Katan, reported that the outposts would comprise six farms and two settlements
Mount Hebron Foundation raises over NIS 158,000 for new outposts, vows to expand settlements in memory of slain IDF soldiers
By Sunday, the Mount Hebron Foundation had raised more than NIS 158,000 of its NIS 500,000 goal.
“In the face of those who seek to sow fear and expel us from the heights of our homeland, we stand firm and deepen our grip on the land. In their memory and in their name, we embark on a large-scale settlement movement,” the foundation said in a statement.
“This is the deepest Zionist, moral, and Jewish response: to turn loss into momentum for growth, preserving the land and building the future of future generations. In the place where they tried to cut off lives: We plant roots.”
Ariella Roitman contributed to this report.