WEST BANK: Jewish settlers move into new building effectively expanding their enclave in conflict-ridden Hebron.

Record ID: 565141

  • Title: WEST BANK: Jewish settlers move into new building effectively expanding their enclave in conflict-ridden Hebron.
  • Date: 7th April 2006
  • Summary: MEN AND BOYS GOING INTO BUILDING AND USING CROW BARS TO OPEN DOORS WITHIN THE BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 22nd April 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVADTCTSTRJIKA4DI6EZ8KYDSA29
  • Story Text: A group of Jewish settlers moved into a new building on Thursday (April 7) in the West Bank town of Hebron, a spokesman for the settlers said, effectively expanding their enclave in the conflict-ridden area.
    This is a house which we bought we have all the permissions and documents and we are moving into the property like anyone who moves into a house he bought anywhere else. I am sorry that the place was neglected for a long time but with god's help there will be a nice house here with a few families, children and plants... it will be nice here", Noam Federman, a spokesman for settlers in Hebron, a largely Palestinian city and hotbed of conflict, told Reuters.
    The settlers' action was a test for Israeli interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who won a March 28 election on a pledge to remove many Jewish settlements and set a border unilaterally with the Palestinians, in the absence of peace talks.
    Another spokesman for the settlers said an unspecified number of Israeli families were moving into the structure next to the Jewish settlement in Hebron which numbers about 400, in the city of 130,000 Palestinians.
    The building in question had been unoccupied for some years but apparently was once the home of Palestinians, he said.
    Israeli military officials were checking the settlers' documentation for the building which settlers said they bought legally from a Palestinian owner, Israel Radio said.
    A Palestinian security source denied that the building had been legally purchased, and said it still belonged to a Palestinian family.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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