Thousands of soldiers in riot gear and on horseback clashed with hundreds of stone-throwing Jewish settlers holed up behind barbed wire and on rooftops in this illegal West Bank settlement outpost yesterday, after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the demolition of nine homes at the site.
It was the first forced evacuation of Jewish settlers since last summer's pullout from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, and was on par with the most violent scenes of the Gaza pullout. Dozens of people were evacuated with injuries. Both settlers and policeman were among the wounded, with police saying 31 of their officers had been hurt.
The evacuation was seen as a test for acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who has said he would act with determination against settlers violating the law. Olmert is widely expected to withdraw from more areas of the West Bank and dismantle additional Jewish settlements, whether unilaterally or in a deal with the Palestinians, if elected prime minister in March elections.
About an hour into the confrontation at Amona, troops had reached the first home and began tearing down window shutters with crowbars. They dragged out protesters through the windows, as settlers dropped paint-filled balloons and stones on them from above.
Troops then climbed up a ladder to reach rioters barricaded on a rooftop, with settlers pushing the troops back with sticks and hurling eggs and sand at them. Other troops stormed the roof, riding on the shovel of a bulldozer, and began forcing the settlers into the shovel and bringing them down.
Later, a bulldozer started tearing down the first of the nine structures earmarked for demolition. The first structure was destroyed and troops began tearing down a second one.
In all, some 5,000 demonstrators, including 1,800 extremists holed up in the nine buildings, were being forcibly removed, and police said at least 40 people had been arrested.
Thick black smoke from burning tires rose into the air. Across the outpost, settlers pelted troops with stones and rocks, paint-filled balloons and eggs. Club-wielding soldiers on horseback charged into the crowd and water cannons tried to push back protesters.
A field clinic was set up to treat the wounded, and people milled about with their heads wrapped in bandages and wearing T-shirts splattered with blood.
"They are treating people here like Arabs," legislator Arieh Eldad said in a telephone interview from the scene with Israel Radio.
Eldad said he suffered a broken arm.
Troops began moving into the outpost after Israel's Supreme Court cleared the last hurdle to the evacuation yesterday morning. Under the court order, nine homes built illegally on private Palestinian land are to be demolished. Several more temporary structures have been set up on state land.
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