In 1994 Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin punished the Palestinians for the massacre of Arabs in the Cave of the Patriarchs by Dr. Baruch Goldstein, and imposed a prolonged curfew on them to protect the settlers from acts of revenge. That is the same logic that to this day guides the army commanders, who are punishing the residents of the villages Kerioth and Jaloud, for example, for the violence of the settlers in the outposts Esh Kodesh and Yishuv Hadaat, and evicting them from thousands of dunams of their land.

Read more: Israel's logic of dispossession

The cave and an adjacent small, concrete house are on a 110-dunam plot that the Musa family of the village of Qaryut bought before 1967. The family planted grapes and later almond and fig trees. They also grew lentils, fava beans and wheat. Sheep and goats lived in the cave. When Israel conquered the area, it forbade them from adding rooms to the concrete home, but the extended family got by and made a living off its land.

Read more: The Duma murder is an exception to the already violent rule

“Why does it bother you that we are fixing a road full of potholes?” the activists asked. And the soldier, with utter self-confidence, replied: “This is the State of Israel. This route does not need to change, this road needs to remain the way it is. With holes. Because this is the territory of the State of Israel.”

Read more: The brave Israeli soldiers and the Palestinian pothole attack

The Judea and Samaria district police are shocked. This is the police district that systematically closes investigations of Israeli violence against Palestinians.

Read more: Why are Israelis so shocked by the 'wedding of hate' video?