Eviction of Jewish settlers in Hebron sparks debate within Israeli government

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said initial investigations showed the teenager killed on Saturday “had fought with her family and left her home with a knife and intending to die”.

The last four months witnessed the outbreak of violence between Israel and the Palestinians. Both sides have accused the other of inciting violence with inflammatory speech, Emily noted in October.

Nearly daily stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks by Palestinians have killed 25 Israelis and a US citizen.

Police arrested the activist, Ezra Nawi, last week after the respected Israeli investigative program “Uvda” aired hidden-camera footage of him saying that he has turned over Arab land dealers to Palestinian authorities, knowing they could be killed or tortured.

Hebron, a city of about 220,000 Palestinians in the south of the West Bank, has always been a source of tension, fuelled by the presence of around 1,000 Jewish settlers who live in the heart of the city protected by Israeli troops.

Israeli forces shoot dead a 13-year-old Palestinian woman in northeastern al-Quds (Jerusalem) after she allegedly attempted to stab a soldier.

Two MPs from his own party and one from Jewish Home said they would refuse to vote with the government unless the settlers were allowed back into the houses, according to the Times of Israel.

The incident happened near the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Anatot.

The death of the 36-year-old mother in the Otneil settlement brought condemnation from Israeli leadership and United Nations officials, who called on Palestinian and Israeli leadership to stop incitement.

The United States, whose ambassador angered Israel this week with criticism of its West Bank policy, said it was strongly opposed to any moves that accelerate settlement expansion.

“In many cases, the killings have been carried out by these guards”, he said.

The next day, Israeli police evicted them.

“Yet separation will become more and more difficult” if Israel continues to expand settlements, he said.

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian homes on Thursday in the city and verbally abused residents, Israeli rights group B’Tselem told the Ma’an news agency.

“Israel is stealing land specially in the Jordan Valley under the pretext it wants to annex it”, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation Hanan Ashrawi said.