WEST BANK: Israeli policemen evacuate hundreds of Jewish settlers attempting to resettle a West Bank settlement, evacuated in 2005 under the 'Disengagement Plan'

Record ID: 561986

  • Title: WEST BANK: Israeli policemen evacuate hundreds of Jewish settlers attempting to resettle a West Bank settlement, evacuated in 2005 under the 'Disengagement Plan'
  • Date: 28th March 2007
  • Summary: ARMY OFFICER TALKING ON MEGAPHONE, CALLING ON SETTLERS TO PEACEFULLY LEAVE SETTLEMENT
  • Embargoed: 12th April 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Police,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA8CPE7HW2HS4UOV9IOOHC1SA0F
  • Story Text: Israeli police in riot gear evacuated more than 300 pro-settlement activists who had flocked to an abandoned Jewish settlement in the northern West Bank on Wednesday (March 28).
    Hundreds of right-wing activists had poured into the settlement of Homesh in the northern West Bank earlier this week in what they said was an effort to rebuild the outpost.
    They erected makeshift structures and vowed to re-occupy Homesh which was evacuated in 2005 under Israel's 'Disengagement Plan'.
    "This place was destroyed by insane people, people that cannot come and explain one reason to do it, to destroy one of the nicest places in Israel, a place that you can see from here from Haifa till Gaza," said right-wing leader Baruch Marzel.
    The activists, who had returned to Homesh over the past several days, sang songs and chanted slogans opposing their removal.
    Police in black uniforms and wearing helmets carried away some of the protesters who refused to leave.
    In addition to pulling troops and settlers out of the occupied Gaza Strip in 2005, Israel evacuated Homesh, along with three other isolated settlements in the West Bank.
    Since the evacuation, Israelis have been prohibited from re-entering Homesh, which used to house over 200 settlers.
    The army and police had made no attempt to stop activists from reaching the settlement this week, apparently fearing some would flee into nearby hills and complicate the security situation.
    About 270,000 Jewish settlers live in the occupied West Bank among some
    5 million Palestinians. The World Court has ruled that settlements built on land captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War are illegal.

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