Jewish settlers brace for clashes with Israeli army
AMONA OUTPOST, West Bank, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Thousands of Israeli ultranationalists barricaded themselves at a Jewish settlement in the West Bank on Wednesday vowing to fight police and soldiers sent to demolish part of an unauthorised outpost.
The confrontation over Amona, a hilltop enclave near the West Bank town of Ramallah, threatened to break into the worst violence between Israeli troops and Jewish settlers since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip last September.
About 5,000 protesters, many of them teenagers, took over the rooftops of nine uninhabited houses slated to be demolished on Wednesday and prepared to confront police with stones, glass bottles, buckets of cooking oil and paint.
"We are expecting a high level of violence," said Gidon Mor, a police commander at the scene. Settlers threw stones at police overnight, hurting three officers who were taken to hospital.
The evacuation had been slated to take place at dawn but was delayed pending a Supreme Court hearing later on Wednesday.
Amona has become the latest battleground for settlers angry over Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and keen to prevent any additional pullouts in the West Bank if Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party is elected in a March 28 election.
Olmert has targeted 24 settlement outposts for removal in a bid to implement a commitment in a U.S.-backed peace "road map", and assert control after assuming the powers of an incapacitated Ariel Sharon.
Olmert also hinted on Tuesday that he would remove isolated West Bank settlements if elected, telling Kadima supporters that after the election he would "shape the permanent borders of Israel as a country with a clear and solid Jewish majority".
Israel does not plan to remove the entire unauthorised enclave of Amona, but to bulldoze nine uninhabited buildings constructed without permits and in defiance of Israel's commitment to stop building West Bank settlements.
It will let several dozen families in trailer homes remain, pending further discussion.
SETTLERS PREPARE FOR FIGHT OVER OUTPOST
"Every house that is destroyed is a victory for Hamas," said a sign held by protesters in a reference to the militant Islamic group which won a Palestinian parliamentary election last week by a landslide.
In Washington, U.S. President George W. Bush demanded that Hamas "recognise Israel, disarm, reject terrorism and work for lasting peace" in his State of the Union address.
Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction and has led a campaign of suicide bombings and attacks against Israel, although the group has largely held to a year-long ceasefire.
Violence flared on Tuesday near Amona, when 300 settlers stormed an army base and tampered with a bulldozer. Settlers also blocked a West Bank road, punctured the tires of a military vehicle and threw stones at Palestinians.
"We are tired of being the country's punching bag. This is an attempt to move back to the 1967 borders", settler Shimon Raklin told Israeli television, referring to the West Bank which Israel captured in a 1967 Middle East War.
Israeli rightists view the West Bank as a biblical birthright. The United Nation's World Court says all settlements are illegal. Israel disputes this, but has committed to dismantle a series of unauthorised outposts erected by settlers.
Right-wing leaders accused Olmert of timing the West Bank demolitions to enhance the popularity of his Kadima party, a frontrunner in the polls for the March election.
Kadima was founded by Sharon, who has been in a coma since a Jan. 4 stroke.
The confrontation over Amona, a hilltop enclave near the West Bank town of Ramallah, threatened to break into the worst violence between Israeli troops and Jewish settlers since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip last September.
About 5,000 protesters, many of them teenagers, took over the rooftops of nine uninhabited houses slated to be demolished on Wednesday and prepared to confront police with stones, glass bottles, buckets of cooking oil and paint.
"We are expecting a high level of violence," said Gidon Mor, a police commander at the scene. Settlers threw stones at police overnight, hurting three officers who were taken to hospital.
The evacuation had been slated to take place at dawn but was delayed pending a Supreme Court hearing later on Wednesday.
Amona has become the latest battleground for settlers angry over Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and keen to prevent any additional pullouts in the West Bank if Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party is elected in a March 28 election.
Olmert has targeted 24 settlement outposts for removal in a bid to implement a commitment in a U.S.-backed peace "road map", and assert control after assuming the powers of an incapacitated Ariel Sharon.
Olmert also hinted on Tuesday that he would remove isolated West Bank settlements if elected, telling Kadima supporters that after the election he would "shape the permanent borders of Israel as a country with a clear and solid Jewish majority".
Israel does not plan to remove the entire unauthorised enclave of Amona, but to bulldoze nine uninhabited buildings constructed without permits and in defiance of Israel's commitment to stop building West Bank settlements.
It will let several dozen families in trailer homes remain, pending further discussion.
SETTLERS PREPARE FOR FIGHT OVER OUTPOST
"Every house that is destroyed is a victory for Hamas," said a sign held by protesters in a reference to the militant Islamic group which won a Palestinian parliamentary election last week by a landslide.
In Washington, U.S. President George W. Bush demanded that Hamas "recognise Israel, disarm, reject terrorism and work for lasting peace" in his State of the Union address.
Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction and has led a campaign of suicide bombings and attacks against Israel, although the group has largely held to a year-long ceasefire.
Violence flared on Tuesday near Amona, when 300 settlers stormed an army base and tampered with a bulldozer. Settlers also blocked a West Bank road, punctured the tires of a military vehicle and threw stones at Palestinians.
"We are tired of being the country's punching bag. This is an attempt to move back to the 1967 borders", settler Shimon Raklin told Israeli television, referring to the West Bank which Israel captured in a 1967 Middle East War.
Israeli rightists view the West Bank as a biblical birthright. The United Nation's World Court says all settlements are illegal. Israel disputes this, but has committed to dismantle a series of unauthorised outposts erected by settlers.
Right-wing leaders accused Olmert of timing the West Bank demolitions to enhance the popularity of his Kadima party, a frontrunner in the polls for the March election.
Kadima was founded by Sharon, who has been in a coma since a Jan. 4 stroke.
posted by Marko at 2/01/2006 12:07:00 AM
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