Palestines evicted from tent site

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders roads closed leading to the area and had the military declare a closed military zone and shut off access

JERUSALEM — Palestinian protesters, who pitched tents at a strategic West Bank site to protest plans to build a Jewish housing project there, were evicted early yetserday, police said.

Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said police evicted about a hundred protesters from the site after a court decision authorizing their removal.

He said no arrests were made during the half hour operation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening ordered roads closed leading to the area and had the military declare a closed military zone and shut off access.

Palestinian activists erected tents in the area known as E-1 on Friday saying they wanted to “establish facts on the ground” to stop Israeli construction in the West Bank.

Rosenfeld said the tents were not dismantled and that a decision on that would be made later in the day.

The activists were borrowing a phrase and a tactic, usually associated with Jewish settlers, who believe establishing communities means the territory will remain Israeli.

Activists said they want to build a village in the site, which they are calling Bab Al Shams.

Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday night that the state was petitioning the Supreme Court to rescind an injunction blocking the evacuation. Rosenfeld, the police spokesman, said he did not know which court had allowed the eviction.

Israel announced it is moving forward with the E-1 settlement after the U.N. recognized a de facto state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in November.

Palestinians say E-1 would be a major blow to their statehood aspirations as it blocks east Jerusalem from its West Bank hinterland. (AP)