Hundreds of Israeli border police entered Amona on Wednesday, a settlement outpost in the West Bank, to evict residents following a Supreme Court ruling that said the homes were built on private Palestinian land.
3,000 Israeli police and border police officers evicted around 50 families from their homes in Amona.
This week, residents of the outpost were given 48 hours to leave their homes by military order. After issuing the 48-hour order, the IDF closed two access roads to the settlement, in an attempt to prevent protesters entering and obstructing the evacuation.
Police said that by Thursday morning the majority of residents had been evicted from the outpost, but there were 60 to 100 protestors inside a synagogue.
In December, the High Court of Israel granted a “last, final extension” to evacuate Amona’s residents by February, after having previously ruled that the outpost was illegally built on Palestinian territory.
Dozens of right wing protestors quarrelled with Israeli police who came to the outpost to support the settlers. Several protestors were detained by police, with a police spokesmen commenting that at least 10 officers were slightly injured due to stone-throwing. Amona settlers themselves took a more passive approach in resistance, staying inside their homes and erecting makeshift barriers in front of their doors.
In 2006, Amona witnessed violent clashes during partial eviction, with nine shacks being torn down by authorities.
Around 50 families live in Amona, near Ramallah, and it is the largest outpost built in the West Bank without official authorisation. The settlement was built in the 1990s and looks across the valley onto Palestinian villages.
