Settlers evacuated from Homesh
Rightists who arrived at former West Bank settlement removed by security forces
Police evacuated the settlers and right-wing activists who arrived at the former Israeli settlement of Homesh during the early hours of Monday morning.
Some activists agreed to leave willingly, while others fled to nearby hills.
Rightists pray at Homesh (Photo: Menora Hazani)
According to the settlers and organizers of the march to Homesh, police forcefully removed female activists from the area and confiscating cameras.
Earlier the settlers said they built a “tower” made of bricks on one of the hills, adding that they were in the process of constructing a synagogue in the former Israeli settlement.
IDF officials expressed their indignation over the rightists’ march to Homesh. “Instead of training and dealing with routine security-related tasks the army is forced to chase after the activists,” one official said.
“All those who arrived at Homesh will be evacuated,” he added.
On Sunday night police detained 11 right-wing activists suspected of vandalizing military property during a riot in a Palestinian village near Nablus. The activists arrived in the area on their way to Homesh.
Over the past 24 hours several hundred rightists have attempted to journey to the former settlement, 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.
