The head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, moved his office to the middle of Huwara on Sunday morning in protest against a series of shooting attacks against Israelis in the Palestinian town in recent weeks.
Dagan was joined by the chairmen of the settlements in the Gav Hahar area, the name for the group of settlements in the area, and Religious Zionist MK Zvi Sukkot at his new office in the middle of the Palestinian town. Sukkot and another individual marched through the Palestinian town with Israeli flags on Sunday morning.
"If there is no security for my residents, I will sit here in Huwara," said Dagan. "The fabric of the enemy's life will not come before the lives of the civilians."
"We demand that the government return the security checkpoints that check the vehicles leaving Nablus - and not for a short time just near the site of the attack. Collect the weapons, close the stores in Huwara that provide shelter for murderous terrorists and create traffic jams and launch a military operation against the terrorist Palestinian Authority, Operation Defensive Shield 2. They will not neglect the blood of the residents."
"The Huwara road has become a bloodbath and terrorists are trying to murder and are murdering residents here in broad daylight."
Yossi Dagan
"Every day there are attempts to murder the residents of Samaria and other Israeli citizens who travel here on the roads," added the regional council head. "The Huwara road has become a bloodbath and terrorists are trying to murder and are murdering residents here in broad daylight."
"It is an unbearable situation when a person leaves his house and does not know if he will return in the evening. We will not accept this situation, we will not accept the neglect of our residents here in Samaria and anywhere else and unfortunately the lack of change that the government is leading is starting to feel like neglect."
Two soldiers injured in third terror attack in a month
On Saturday night, two IDF soldiers, Eilon Zobal and Uri Hagabi, were injured in a shooting attack in Huwara, one in serious condition and one in moderate condition. The terrorist who committed the attack is still on the run.
The Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military branch of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, announced on Saturday evening that it was responsible for the shooting attack.
The attack comes just a week after American-Israeli David Stern was injured in a shooting attack in the town. That attack came exactly three weeks after two Israelis – brothers Yagel and Hallel Yaniv – were murdered in a shooting attack in Huwara.
After the opening of Dagan's office in Huwara, dozens of Palestinians gathered in the area and began playing the sound of an air raid siren over a loudspeaker. Some of the Palestinians scuffled with IDF soldiers at the scene.
After a request by the security forces, Dagan reportedly agreed to move his office to the junction near Yitzhar, just outside of Huwara.
Golan Ivgi, the chairman of Yitzhar, a settlement located just northwest of Huwara, also called for a large scale military operation in and around Nablus, stating "We don't want to get into a situation in which we again have to tell a family that we have lost someone, in which small children will rightfully fear being murdered on the way to school and the dentist."
"This is the government for which we worked very hard so that it would be elected and we deserve at least the right to live in security," added Ivgi.
Sukkot stated that he joined Dagan in his demand for security guarantees for residents of the Samaria region. "We will not accept a situation where after three serious attacks in Hawara it seems that nothing significant will be done to prevent the next attack," said the MK.
The chairman of Alon Moreh, Mevaseret Tolmetz, expressed his support for Dagan's decision to move his office to Huwara, saying "We demand that the army allow Jews to travel freely and that there will be security for our residents."
Hadas Goldin, the chairwoman of Itamar, added "We are inside Huwara, and we shout and shout - our blood is not worthless! We will not let them kill our residents, because they are not doing enough."
Hadash-Ta'al MK Aida Touma-Suleiman condemned the move of Dagan's office to Huwara on Sunday, saying "The army collectively punishes thousands of Palestinians and commits a war crime when it closes the shops in Huwara, this crime allows the settlers to establish an office in the village in order to intensify the flames in the heart of a Palestinian community."
"Instead of the army working to keep the settlers away, they cooperate with them. We are now seeing the results of the cancellation of the Disengagement Law in Huwara with violent rampages and deliberate provocations against the Palestinians in order to settle and annex."