Houses bulldozed in West Bank settler riots

Israeli forces with bulldozers and pile-drivers tore down nine houses in an illegal West Bank settlement outpost yesterday after hours of bloody clashes between settlers and their extremist reinforcements against police and soldiers left more than 200 injured on both sides.

Police charged in on horseback yesterday, flailing hundreds of settlers with clubs, storming the barricaded and fortified houses, battling rioters in a daylong clash at Amona, next to the veteran settlement of Ofra, north of Jerusalem.

The fierce confrontation was a likely harbinger of what lies ahead if Israel decides to leave other parts of the West Bank. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the front-runner in March 28 Israeli elections, is widely expected to withdraw from more areas of the territory and dismantle additional Jewish settlements if he is elected.

Olmert has said he is ready to make painful territorial concessions as part of a negotiated peace agreement, but has signalled he will act unilaterally if an agreement is not possible.

The likelihood of unilateral action – including limited withdrawals meant to boost Israeli security – has grown after the Hamas militant group’s victory last week in Palestinian legislative elections.

The first poll since Hamas’ victory showed Olmert’s Kadima Party maintaining its huge lead over the moderate Labour and hard-line Likud, which has adopted the slogan “Strong against Hamas” in an attempt to capitalise on Israeli concerns about the militant Islamic group.

The Channel 10 TV poll showed Kadima winning 42 seats of the 120 in parliament, unchanged from the previous week. Labour would win 21 and Likud only 13, according to the poll, which did not quote sample size or margin of error.

The battle over Amona, an Israeli hilltop enclave in the heart of the West Bank, was seen as a test for Olmert, who has said he would act with determination against settlers violating the law.

The clashes were on par with the most violent scenes during last summer’s pullout from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, in which 25 settlements were dismantled.

The rioters, most of them young Orthodox Jews, including girls, pelted police with eggs, rocks, sand and paint-filled balloons from their rooftop strongholds.

The military said 32 were arrested at the scene along with ”dozens of other rioters” in the area.

Police burst into the homes, climbing ladders and riding in the shovels of bulldozers to reach the rooftops. The protesters beat the police with sticks and set fires on the rooftops. Thick black smoke from burning tires rose into the air, covering the area with a bitter stench, as police aimed water cannons at the rioters.

The houses were cleared out one by one, and bulldozers and large jackhammers immediately knocked down the buildings.

The remainder of the outpost, including a synagogue, playground and cramped trailer homes inhabited by about 35 families, wasn’t affected.

Israel’s rescue service said 219 people were injured, including 10 people in moderate to serious condition.

At a field clinic, people milled about, their heads wrapped in bandages and blood splattered on their shirts. Others sat dazed on the ground, their arms in slings. Several lay motionless on the ground, necks in braces, before they were taken away in ambulances.

Shmuel Greenwald, an 18-year-old seminary student from Jerusalem who had holed up in one of the homes, accused police of using excessive force. “They hit me on the back, no questions asked. They just came in swinging,” he said.

Among the wounded were more than 50 police officers, one with serious head wounds, and two ultranationalist lawmakers, Effie Eitam and Arieh Eldad, who supported the protesters. Eitam was seen with blood streaming down his head and Eldad said he suffered a broken arm.

Amona is among dozens of illegal West Bank outposts established by Jewish settlers since the 1990s to prevent Israel from turning over the territory to the Palestinians. Under the US-backed “road map” peace plan, Israel has pledged to remove about two doze outposts.

Settlers and their backers say all of the West Bank belongs to the Jews. Hamas, in contrast, says Israel, the West Bank and Gaza belong to the Arabs.