ISRAELI SECURITY forces stormed a disputed building in the West Bank city of Hebron yesterday, evicting 10 Jewish families and about 100 young supporters in a clinical 20-minute operation.
The Jewish residents had refused a high court order to evacuate the four-storey building in the biblical city. A few hundred militant Jewish settlers arrived at the site over the last few weeks threatening violent resistance if the security forces moved to implement the high court decision.
Defence minister Ehud Barak met yesterday morning with representatives of Jewish settlers in an effort to reach a compromise involving the peaceful evacuation of the building, dubbed “the House of Peace” by Hebron settlers. Hours later he gave the green light to the security forces to storm the building.
The element of surprise was a key factor, and the police involved in the operation were only told minutes before. Some of the Jewish activists were playing football outside the building when the police jeeps pulled up.
The security forces threw stun grenades and used tear gas as they rushed into the building, as well-trained snatch squads pulled out the residents one by one. It was all over in 20 minutes.
The threats of bloodshed by the activists failed to materialise although 25 police and settlers were hurt, including a policeman who had acid thrown in his eyes.
After the evacuation settlers rampaged in a nearby valley, attacking Palestinian homes. One building was set on fire before the Israeli security forces dispersed the rioters. There were also disturbances at other locations, prompting the Israeli army to declare the entire southern West Bank a closed military zone.
Israeli troops will occupy the building in Hebron until a court hears an appeal by settlers who claim they have new documents proving the house was legally bought from its Palestinian owner before the Jewish residents moved in last year. The Palestinian owner denies these claims.
Some 650 Jews, including some of the most militant of West Bank settlers, live in the flashpoint city in heavily guarded enclaves surrounded by about 170,000 Palestinians.
Mr Barak said he acted in the only way possible as a responsible leader, stressing the rule of law had been put to the test. But settler leaders and right-wing politicians accused the minister, who is also leader of the left-wing Labor Party, of trying to curry political favour by ordering the operation on the day of the Labor primaries to choose its list ahead of Israel’s February general election.