JERUSALEM, 6 May 2006 — Israeli troops will have to remove three Jewish settler families from a Palestinian-owned home in the West Bank city of Hebron by early next week, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled yesterday. The court had initially ordered the squatters removed by yesterday. However, army officials said they feared they would not be able to complete the task before the onset of the Jewish Sabbath at sundown yesterday.
The court granted the request for an extension until Monday. Israeli media reported that the army was expected to remove the squatters in the night from tomorrow to Monday, and that some 1,000 soldiers and police were being mobilized for the mission. Tensions were high in the divided city yesterday when about 60 settler youths and men scuffled with Israeli police at the home that is to be evacuated. The settlers shouted slogans against the removal of the squatters and slashed the tire of a police car, police spokesman Moshe Tirje said.
Hebron is home to about 160,000 Palestinians and some 500 Jewish settlers living in heavily fortified enclaves in the downtown area. The Hebron settlers are among the most ultranationalist in the West Bank and resistance is expected. About a month ago, three settler families moved into an abandoned home near the settler enclave of Avraham Avinu, presenting documents allegedly showing they had rented the property from its Palestinian owner.
However, Israeli authorities later determined that the documents were forged, Israeli media reported. The forceful evacuation of some Jewish settlers in Hebron will be the first test of Israel’s new defense minister, Amir Peretz, leader of the moderate Labor Party. Israel’s center-left government was sworn in Thursday.
Meanwhile, a humanitarian crisis has hit the doorstep of the Gaza Strip following Western aid cuts to the Palestinian Authority since Hamas took office, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said yesterday.
