Hebron, WEST BANK (AFP)
Hundreds of Israeli police on Tuesday dragged extremist Jewish settlers out of two houses they had been occupying for months in the West Bank flashpoint city of Hebron.
The security forces broke down doors as the extremists -- who fervently believe they are carrying out God's work by living in the Palestinian town -- pelted them with rocks, eggs, oil and paint.
"This is Jewish property and we promise to come back," said Noam Arnon, a spokesman for the settlers.
"Forces of expulsion, God will punish you," a settler screeched through a loudspeaker from the rooftop of a neighboring building. "You will not be able to break us, we will return!"
The Israeli settlers in Hebron, long a flashpoint between Palestinians and Israelis, are known for their extreme views and confrontational methods, especially with their Palestinian neighbors.
Late Sunday, settlers angry over the court order set fire to the entrance of a Palestinian school in Hebron's old city, causing damages but no injuries.
More than 200 police and border guards moved in at dawn to remove two families who, backed by dozens of young ultra-nationalist Jews, had barricaded themselves in the buildings in Hebron's former wholesale market.
Five teenagers were arrested and 27 people wounded in the four-hour operation to enforce a court evacuation order handed down to the families, who had been squatting in the building for months, police and medics said.
After the squatters were removed, the police moved in to destroy the makeshift apartments created by the settlers in closed market stores, in an attempt to prevent any more families from setting up inside.
The operation came a day after several religious soldiers were jailed for a month for refusing to take part in the forced removal of settlers in the town that has been a source of tension between Israelis and Palestinians for years.
Under an agreement with the Palestinian Authority, Israel evacuated 80 percent of Hebron in 1997, leaving several hundred settlers, protected by soldiers, living around the Tomb of the Patriarchs -- a site holy to both Jews and Muslims.
Hebron is the most populous city in the West Bank, which has been under Israeli occupation for 40 years. |
