Off the wire
• Macao's visitor arrivals down 2.6 pct in 2015  • Vietnam's 1st surrogacy baby delivered  • China refutes young Filipino's illegal plan for Nansha Islands  • China's Hainan Airlines starts nonstop service between Los Angeles and Changsha  • 1st LD Writethru: Two killed in bomb blast in eastern India  • Weather forecast for world cities -- Jan. 22  • China Voice: New metrics needed to understand China's changing economy  • Weather forecast for major Chinese cities, regions -- Jan. 22  • WeChat app wins half of Chinese population within 5 years  • 1st LD Writethru: Lao People's Revolutionary Party announces 11-member Political Bureau  
You are here: 　 Home

Israeli forces evict Jewish settlers from buildings in West Bank

Xinhua, January 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

Israeli troops Friday evicted Jewish settlers from two buildings in the center of the West Bank city of Hebron, a day after the settlers took over the controversial buildings.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri told Xinhua that border police and military forces removed some 80 settlers and blocked further access to the site. She added that the decision to evict the settlers was taken by the Ministry of Defense.

The settlers claimed they bought the buildings legally, while the Palestinians charged they were illegally stolen.

The Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported that during the takeover on Thursday, the settlers vandalized homes in the vicinity of the buildings, threw stones and verbally abused Palestinian residents.

The move triggered clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces. Several Palestinians were reportedly hurt by tear gas.

The buildings reside in the heart of Hebron, near a major flashpoint holy site known to Muslims as the Sanctuary of Abraham and to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs.

Many of the recent Palestinian attacks in the four-month-long fatal wave of violence occurred in Hebron. Endit