Israeli cops, settlers clash
2009-09-13 19:54
West Bank - Hardline Jewish settlers on Sunday clashed with Israeli police who had come to stop a new caravan being put up at a wildcat outpost in the north of the occupied West Bank, officials said.
One policeman was lightly wounded and three settlers were arrested in the scuffle that broke out at the Havat Gilad outpost - a settlement built without authorisation from the Israeli government, police and witnesses said.
The fight erupted when police arrived to stop the settlers - among the most radical living in the occupied territory - from erecting a new caravan at the outpost near the Palestinian village of Jit, west of the town of Nablus.
Israel has committed to removing the outposts under the 2003 international "roadmap" blueprint for Middle East peace, but the anti-settlement Peace Now group estimates there are some 100 such outposts throughout the West Bank.
The incident illustrated the difficulties Israel would face in removing the most hardline settlers in the West Bank, who believe Jews have a God-given right to the land.
- SAPA
