Police clash with Jewish settlers as squatters forced from West Bank city

ISRAELI police yesterday evacuated dozens of Jewish squatters who took over a Palestinian home in the West Bank city of Hebron, in an important first test for Israel’s new government and its plans to uproot tens of thousands of settlers.

The clearing of the three-storey building was over in under three hours and encountered no serious resistance. The operation was in marked contrast to the violent evacuation of part of a tiny West Bank outpost in February, when more than 200 police and teenage protesters were injured.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was widely criticised for his handling of that operation while heading a caretaker government.