(JTA) — Israeli police have created a special unit to direct large-scale evacuations of unauthorized settlement outposts.
The Shai District, which polices the West Bank, has not officially begun operations with the unit, but a "counter-command" has already been set up by settlers in anticipation of the forced evacuations, Ha’aretz reported Thuirsday.
All police activity iin the West Bank s overseen by the Israeli army, although IDF military denied plans to evacuate the communities, saying that the matter fell to local police.
"The IDF spokesperson wishes to emphasize that reports that the IDF has set up a special headquarters to dismantle communities in the Judea and Samaria region are baseless," an Israel Defense Forces statement said. "It must be stressed that the IDF has not received a government order to dismantle the communities or to prepare for such deployment."
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