Palestinian teen girl killed after attempting to stab West Bank settlement guard

Territories that Israel intends to appropriate are part of the land Palestinians claim for the recognition of their independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem; areas Israel seized in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Since the start of October, Palestinian stabbings, car-rammings and shootings have killed 25 Israelis and a USA citizen.

Some 20 families had moved into the two large adjacent stone buildings on Thursday afternoon with documents in hand, which they said, proved they had purchased it from their Palestinian owners. The properties are located near the site known to Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque.

Reportedly protected by Israeli troops, the settlers broke the doors of several homes and threw rocks at Palestinian residents.

Under Palestinian law, it is illegal to sell homes to Israelis in the West Bank but a very small number still do so.

The appropriation, covers 154 hectares (380 acres) in the Jordan Valley close to Jericho, an area where Israel already has many settlement farms built on land Palestinians seek for a state. The UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly and European Union refer to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory. Some 146 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, of which some 101 have been identified by Israel as attackers. In one attack, an Israeli was killed after Palestinians threw rocks at his auto.

Medical sources said another Palestinian was injured by a rubber-coated steel bullet in the foot in Bethlehem and was taken to Beit Jala hospital for treatment.

Those who “invaded” the Hebron homes “crudely violated” that law, he said. “Therefore the invaders were evacuated”.

After the riot, settlers’ spokesman Yishai Fleisher said his community did not coordinate with the army “for fear of leaks and efforts to try to stop it”. Media reported that three parliamentarians were threatening to boycott Knesset votes until those evicted were allowed back in.

Minister of Tourism from Netanyahu’s Likud party, Yariv Levin, condemned the eviction, saying that such a decision “naturally has implications on the stability of the coalition”.

“The prime minister backs the defense minister and the security forces and calls for a lowering of tensions”, the statement read.

“This is the time to fight terror and strengthen and support the settlements, and not to fight the settlers”, he posted on Twitter.