9 Jewish homes at Ofra settlement demolished after protesters removed

March 1 (UPI) -- Workers demolished the last of nine homes on private Palestinian land in the West Bank after Israeli police officers removed the remaining demonstrators Wednesday.

Israel's Supreme Court rejected an appeal Monday and ordered the homes, which were built in 2008, to be razed in Ofra. The court determined that an arrangements law, which legalizes West Bank settlements built on private Palestinian land, does not apply to these homes.

The court had imposed a deadline for Sunday but the evacuation was completed ahead of time.

Eight houses were evacuated Tuesday as officers led tearful residents and protesting teens from the homes. The ninth home was evacuated by noon Wednesday after protesting youths were removed from inside the building and atop the roof. Fifteen protesters were arrested and 21 officers had minor injuries, Ynet reported.

Last month, homes in Amona were evacuated and destroyed.

Tamar Nizri, a former resident of Amona, is currently living with other families from the former outpost in a religious girls' seminary in Ofra. She was among the protesters and called the "unnecessary and idiotic destruction" of homes an "injustice."

"We are here because this land as given to us in a promise by God to our forefathers, and we were always here until we were expelled, and now we have returned, and we are continuing our natural settlement of the land of Israel," Nizri said to The Jerusalem Post.

More than 400,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank since Israel occupied the territory during the Six-Day War in 1967.