Hebron settlers get eviction notices
Civil Administration officials hand eviction notices to eight settler families residing in Hebron’s market; settlers clash with secrity forces
Civil Administration representatives handed out eviction notices to eight settler families residing in Hebron’s wholesale market.
Dozens of settlers confronted the police officers who accompanied the officials, and army sources said the settlers threw water, flour and eggs at the soldiers; the settlers, for their part, claim the IDF forces resorted to violence.
A police officer was evacuated for medical treatment after suffering burns in his eyes and neck; he said settlers threw an unidentified chemical at him
Two settlers were arrested during the clashes.
The decision to hand out the eviction notices is in accordance with Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz’s order to clear the settlers from the area.
However, the spokesman for the Jewish settlement in Hebron, Noam Arnon, said in response that the settlers would not comply with the decree.
In the winter of 2001, eight Jewish families settled in homes located in Hebron’s market following the murder of Jewish baby Shalhevet Pas by a Palestinian sniper.
The Hebron Municipality appealed to the High Court, claiming the families invaded Palestinian homes. Hebron settlers, in turn, submitted documents allegedly proving their ownership of the land, but the court has rejected this claim.
The State decreed that the settlers will have until January to vacate the area willingly, or be forcefully removed in February.
The eviction notices set to be delivered to the settlers state that they must clear the market by January 15, or be subjected to a forceful evacuation by mid-February.
IDF and police forces are set to accompany the Civil Administration officials, as settler resistance is expected.
The eviction notices may be delivered during the night to prevent major altercations.
“We believe this act is both immoral and illegal, as we are the legal inheritors of the property of the Jewish community in Hebron” Arnon told Ynet.
“We received all of the rights from the owners. We agreed to a process in which we would lease the homes from the State, in the hope that this would bring a peaceful resolution to the matter; but they are proceeding with a move aimed at expelling Jews from the place. We will not comply with the eviction notices.”
'We will return to Sa-Nur'
Right-wing activist Itamar Ben-Gvir, who lives in Hebron, said earlier, “They (Civil Administration officials) will not be greeted with flowers here. (Prime Minister Ariel Sharon must understand that the Hebron is an entirely different story than Gush Katif.
“If he is looking to carry out another disengagement, we suggest he begin with the illegal construction by the Arabs surrounding us,” he added.
The Hebron market settlers recently launched a campaign to encourage fellow settlers to help them resist the State’s decree; the settlers said it will be a while before security forces actually attempt to evacuate them from their homes.
Meanwhile, on Monday police arrested 26 settlers for entering the evacuated settlement of Sa-Nur in the northern West Bank.
The settlers are being interrogated for entering the former settlement which has been declared a closed military area after the August disengagement plan. Police are preparing to evacuate several female youth who remain in the settlement.
Some seven young female settlers remained in the area overnight.
“People miss (Sa-Nur) and want to return after they were uprooted and expelled from their homes,” former Sa-Nur spokesman Yossi Dagan told Ynet.
“We will return to Sa-Nur, rebuild it, and this will be part of as process that Israel will go through as it recovers after being deteriorated by the Sharon family.”
