Israeli forces evacuate illegal settler homes in West Bank

The Israeli police on Tuesday carried out a court order to evacuate homes, built illegally on private Palestinian land.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said police entered nine homes in the West Bank and begun the "first step of the evacuation."

In the same time, Samri said, "the police continue the dialogue with the settlers and the local leadership to avoid unnecessary friction and to allow the mission to be carried out without injuries," she said.

The Supreme Court had decided that the homes on the outskirts of the settlement of Ofra should be demolished because they were illegally built on private Palestinian land.

The settlers petitioned the court after the parliament passed a law on Feb. 6 that allows in certain cases to retroactively legalize settlement and outpost homes that were built without permits.

However, on Monday, the court rejected the petition after it found that the law is not applicable to the homes built on plots that the court had already ruled, such as the homes in Ofra.

Army Radio reported that some police forces already arrived early on Tuesday morning in the settlement to prevent youths from barricading themselves inside the buildings.

On Feb. 1, settler residents and their supporters reacted with violence when the police carried out a court-ordered evacuation of the illegal outpost of Amona, built on private Palestinian land without official permits.

The settlements are considered illegal under international law, and the international community sees them as an obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

The settlements were built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War. Endit