Facing Eviction, Settlers Vandalize IDF Base
Fifty settler youth entered a central West Bank military base early Tuesday morning, threw rocks, vandalized military vehicles, and caused general mayhem. The settlers were acting in response to a rumor that the IDF would act to evict West Bank settlement in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling August.
The attack on a base near the West Bank city of Tul Karm, included the pelting of the deputy Regional Brigade commander with stones, setting fires, and the throwing of paint. The youths were repelled by security forces.
Earlier during the night, the IDF and police rushed to the otherwise quiet border with Jordan after a group of 17 right-wing activists, 3 of them minors, occupied structures near the border. The activists said the action was intended as a message to Jordanian authorities to keep out of Temple Mount affairs.
The IDF and police surrounded the activists, who were hilltop youth, and prepared to evacuate. Four other activists were arrested before joining the group on the border. The activists seized abandoned churches near the Qasr al-Yahud holy site, which is the believed site of Jesus’ baptism.
The activists, accompanied by television crews, cut their way through a fence that used to protect a minefield surrounding the area, before it was cleared by Israeli security forces. The activists danced near the structures, entered one of the churches and chanted songs. They were all arrested.
