JEWISH SETTLERS in the volatile West Bank city of Hebron, faced with eviction from a disputed building, have desecrated Muslim property and sprayed graffiti against the Prophet Muhammad.
Israeli troops yesterday painted over slogans such as "Muhammad Pig" and "Death to the Arabs" sprayed on a Hebron mosque wall and Palestinian homes.
Some of the Jewish activists also clashed with soldiers trying to prevent them throwing stones at Palestinian residents of the flashpoint city. A soldier was hurt when turpentine was sprayed in his face.
Tension was high after the Israeli High Court ordered some 10 Jewish families to vacate a home they moved into last year.
The settlers claim that the four-storey building was legally purchased from its Palestinian owner, but the court ruled that ownership documents were forged and ordered the Jewish residents to leave.
A Wednesday deadline, set by the court, passed with the settlers still firmly in place, boosted by the presence of dozens of supporters, including a member of the Knesset parliament.
The Israeli authorities, fearing violent resistance, are negotiating with the Jewish occupants in an effort to reach a deal over a peaceful evacuation.
650 Jews live in Hebron in a few heavily guarded enclaves in the centre of the Biblical city surrounded by some 170,000 Palestinians.
The Jewish residents include some of the most militant elements of the settler population who believe that the city was promised by God to the Jews, and can never be handed over to the Palestinians as part of a peace deal.
Hebron's Palestinian governor, Hussein al-Araj, urged the Israeli authorities to act. "The Israelis have to enforce the law and stop the suffering of the Palestinians who are living next to settlers. They have to take the settlers from this house and protect the Palestinians." Israel's internal security minister, Avi Dichter, promised that the court eviction order will be carried out in full.
Israeli officials confirmed yesterday that prime minister Ehud Olmert and defence minister Ehud Barak held secret talks on Tuesday night with Jordan's King Abdullah.
The Hashemite monarch urged the Israeli leaders to refrain from ordering a large-scale military operation against militants in Gaza in response to ongoing rocket attacks, warning that such a move could endanger regional stability. The Israeli leaders reportedly responded that the army will be forced to act if the rocket attacks persist.
Meanwhile, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) took the unprecedented step of placing full-page ads in major Israeli dailies to promote the six-year-old Arab League peace plan for the region.
The text described the 2002 plan: "Fifty-seven Arab and Islamic countries will establish diplomatic ties and normal relations with Israel in return for a full peace agreement and an end to the occupation."
The Arab League proposal offers Israel peace and normal relations with all Arab countries in return for withdrawal from all territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war. The plan also calls for the sides to agree a "just solution" for millions of Palestinians classed as refugees from homes and land taken by the new Israeli state in 1948.