Israeli troops clash with Jewish settlers

Israeli soldiers dragged die-hard Jewish settlers off a West Bank hilltop today and dismantled mobile homes at the illegal outpost.

Large numbers of defiant youths had gathered to oppose the Israeli security forces.

But troops tore down the Havat Gilad outpost near the Palestinian city of Nablus, and also dismantled a second one overnight at Nofei Nehemia.

Yarden Vatikay, Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer’s spokesman, said the settlers at the second settlement left voluntarily.

Ben-Eliezer intends to remove two dozen illegal outposts, which are difficult for the military to defend against attacks by Palestinians militants.

Settlers have established the outposts in hopes they will grow into fully-fledged settlements.

“The goal is not to have any more outposts. We are close to removing 24 outposts,” Ben-Eliezer told Israel Radio.

Twenty-two outposts have been taken down, though the latest action marked the first time a populated site was dismantled.

More than 200,000 Jewish settlers live in 150 settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, areas where more than three million Palestinians live. Palestinians demand all the settlements be removed for peace to be achieved.

Many settlers believe the West Bank is their biblical birthright – land God gave the Jews. The settlers make up just 3% of the Israeli population, but their well-organised and vocal lobby has made Israeli governments reluctant to confront them.