Settlers clash with Palestinians near Homesh
Hundreds of right-wing activists blocked from pilgrimage to evacuated Israeli settlement by IDF troops. Clashes with local Palestinian residents erupt after several dozen of those blocked reach nearby village; 11 right-wing activists detained for questioning
Police on Sunday detained 11 right-wing activists suspected of vandalizing military property during a riot in a Palestinian village near Nablus.
The IDF and police have deployed forces in the region for the second consecutive night in an attempt to prevent thousands of people from reaching the evacuated settlement of Homesh in the northern West Bank.
Several hundred right-wing activists and settlers attempted to make the journey on Sunday, but security forces were prepared and had set up numerous roadblocks to cut them off before they could reach their destination.
However, in the early afternoon some 300 people managed to reach Homesh and it took police forces several hours to evacuate them.
Of the group, 150 people, including families with children, left the area willingly and boarded the waiting buses without resistance. The remaining 150 people fled to the nearby hills. At one point, some 70 activists walked down to the Palestinian village of Burqa, located near Nablus.
According to military sources a scuffle broke out between the settlers and Palestinians who were throwing rocks at them.
An IDF force called to the scene attempted to break the two sides apart. Soldiers were pelted with curses like "Nazis" from the settlers and with rocks from the Palestinians. The troops forcibly removed the settlers from the site and handed them over to the police.
Eleven were taken for questioning after suspicions arose that they had vandalized the IDF vehicles which had evacuated them.
Officials within the security establishment said last week that if the activists indeed try to journey to Homesh, the IDF and police would sue the organizers for monetary compensation because of the cost of securing participants. Early estimates set the possible lawsuit demands at millions of dollars.
