Jerusalem – In an unusually fierce clash among Israelis, police battled stone-throwing Jewish settlers on Wednesday and then tore down nine houses that were built on a West Bank hilltop without government approval. More than 200 people were hurt, including policemen, settlers and two right-wing members of parliament.
The confrontation at the Amona outpost involved thousands of police officers and settlers and was more intense than similar clashes last summer when Israel withdrew settlers from the Gaza Strip.
Also, the houses destroyed Wednesday after the settlers were removed were part of an illegal outpost that settlers established on their own, unlike Gaza, where the settlements were built with government backing.
“In my many years in the Israeli police force, I have never seen such violence against police,” Yisrael Yitzhaki, the police commander at the scene, told army radio.
Israel’s acting prime minister, Ehud Olmert, ordered the removal of the outpost in a move that pointed to a tougher stance against settler activity that violates Israeli law.
The estimated 5,000 settlers, most of them teenage boys and girls, set tires ablaze and barricaded themselves in the homes overnight while the security forces surrounded the area.