Jewish settlers riot, torch house in Hebron
By Haitham TamimiHEBRON, West Bank (Reuters) - Scores of Jewish settlers rioted in Hebron in the West Bank on Saturday, wounding a soldier and torching a Palestinian house ahead of the implementation of evacuation orders for a market in the city.
Witnesses said more than 150 settlers clashed with Palestinians in the heart of Hebron after trying to occupy a Palestinian-owned house. The Israeli army said settlers then clashed with police and soldiers who tried to disperse them, lightly wounding one soldier.
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Israeli soldiers scuffle with young Israeli settlers in the centre of the West Bank city of Hebron January 14, 2006. (REUTERS/Nayef Hashlamoun) |
Witnesses said Palestinians and Israelis threw rocks at each other and when the soldiers arrived, settlers stoned them. They said the settlers then torched a Palestinian house.
The riots came amidst rising tensions ahead of an Israeli order to evict eight settler families from Palestinian-owned buildings in a market in the heart of the city.
About 400 militant settlers live among more than 120,000 Palestinians in Hebron, a site of frequent bloodshed.
The eviction orders go into effect on Sunday, but their implementation was likely to be postponed, Israeli media said.
The settler families moved into shops in Hebron's main market five years ago after Palestinian merchants were forced to abandon the stalls due to Israeli-Palestinian violence.
Settlers say the land belonged to Jews who fled the city during unrest in the 1920s. But Israel's High Court declared their presence illegal, opening the way for security forces to deliver eviction orders.
Israel is under international pressure to crack down on settlers who have set up outposts without Israeli government approval. Many settlers stake a biblical claim to Palestinian lands occupied in the 1967 Middle East War where Palestinians seek a state.
The international community brands all Israeli settlements on occupied land illegal. Israel disputes this.
Copyright © 2008 Reuters
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