Jewish activists enter evacuated W.Bank settlement
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Jewish activists enter evacuated W.Bank settlement*
26 Mar 2007 14:37:28 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Yehuda Peretz
HOMESH, West Bank, March 26 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Jewish activists on
Monday poured into a West Bank settlement evacuated by Israel in 2005
and said they planned to re-establish a Jewish presence there.
Israeli soldiers looked on as activists entered the abandoned settlement
of Homesh in the northern West Bank. The group hoisted an Israeli flag
over a water tower and started setting up tents.
Israel evacuated 8,500 Jewish settlers in 2005 from 21 settlements in
the Gaza Strip as well as four small settlements in the West Bank,
including Homesh.
Since the evacuation, Israelis have been prohibited from re-entering
Homesh, which used to house over 200 settlers.
"We are securing a passage for Israeli civilians to avoid clashes with
Palestinians in the area," an Israeli military spokesman said.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert brushed aside the presence of the protesters
as "a one-day visit to Homesh by some sympathisers".
"At the end of the day it will end and I certainly hope that we will not
need to use any other measures to make sure that this place remains as
it was yesterday," Olmert said.
Defence Minister Amir Peretz said everything would be done to avoid
violence but added that those that ignore the authorities will be pulled
out "without compromise".
"I have tasked the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) in a very explicit
manner: There will not be any violation of the law," Peretz said.
Ragheb Abu Diak, who heads the municipal council at the nearby
Palestinian village of Silit al-Dhahr, accused the Israeli army of
providing protection to the settlers.
Israeli protesters said they were in Homesh to stay.
"We are here to build anew the settlement," settler activist Yossi Dagan
told Reuters.
Boaz Ha'etzni, one of the organisers of the protest, said a "nucleus of
30 families" planned to resettle in Homesh.
About 270,000 Jewish settlers live in the occupied West Bank among 2.5
million Palestinians. The World Court has ruled that settlements built
on land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War are illegal.
(Additional reporting by Wael al-Ahmed in Jenin and Jonathan Saul in
Jerusalem)