Settlers take over Palestinian home near Hebron
Some 300 yeshiva students, youth enter Palestinian home near Kiryat Arba they claim to have purchased; ‘They are continuing in the path of our father Abraham,’ Yesha Council says. Palestinians: Settlers also drove worshippers out of mosque
Some 300 yeshiva students and youths entered Monday evening a Palestinian home near Hebron.
The settlers said that they had legal ownership papers for the house, which is located near the road linking Kiryat Arba and the Cave of the Patriarchs (Abraham’s burial site) in Hebron.
Armed settlers at Palestinian home (photo: Gil Yochanan)
Palestinian sources in the West Bank city reported that the settlers also entered a nearby mosque while Muslim worshippers were praying inside. They claimed that the settlers drove the worshippers out of the building before moving on to the house across the way.
Israeli security forces are not working to evacuate them from the premises, the sources said. No violent incidents have been reported as of yet.
A spokesperson for the Jewish settlement in Hebron said, “We entered a new house that was bought in Hebron. It is a large house on the hill leading to Kiryat Arba.”
Settlers prepare to spend night in their new 'home' (photo: Gil Yochanan)
The Yesha Council supported the squatters, saying they were “continuing in the path of our father Abraham, who bought the Cave of the Patriarchs.”
Meanwhile, Hebron resident Bayez Rajabe told Ynet that their claim on the house was utterly false. “I own the whole house and I have all the documents to prove it,” he said.
Rajabe was on his way to the Hebron police station to file a complaint.
“The settlers say they bought the house from a Palestinian living in Jordan. They can buy the house from whoever they want, but the house is mine and I am the sole owner. I have never had any contact with them before,” Rajabe declared.
Meretz chairman Yossi Beilin appealed to Defense Minister Amir Peretz, asking him to evacuate the settlers from the Palestinian house.
Beilin said that he has proposed a bill to evacuate the entire Jewish settlement in Hebron.
Peace Now secretary-general Yariv Oppenheimer said the settlers raid “is a dangerous escalation which could set the town on fire.”
“The IDF and police must act immediately tonight and remove them from the building before they manage to set root there. Responsibility for the situation is upon the shoulders of Defense Minister Peretz,” he said.
