Hebron Hills Council Announces Eight New Outposts After Deadly Attack on Soldiers

The Mount Hebron Regional Council announced on Sunday that eight new outposts are being established in the Hebron Hills, framing the move as a response to a deadly attack at Yehuda Junction on Friday.

Two soldiers were killed in the shooting: St.-Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20. According to the account provided, two attackers driving a vehicle opened fire with an M4 machine gun and a pistol.

IDF sources said the assailants had originally planned to pass the junction and carry out a larger attack on Route 35, a heavily traveled road. They reportedly abandoned that plan after realizing they would not be able to get through the checkpoint.

In its statement, the council said: "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 added that it was raising funds to pay for security at the new outposts.

Simcha Raz, an Israeli journalist for the national-religious weekly magazine Olam Katan, reported that the planned sites would consist of six farms and two settlements.

A separate fundraising effort is also under way. By Sunday, the Mount Hebron Foundation had collected more than NIS 158,000 toward a goal of NIS 500,000. The foundation pledged to expand settlements in memory of the slain soldiers.

"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.

It went on to describe the initiative as a response with deep meaning for its backers. "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."