Hebron settler detained, Palestinians arrested
(17 Jan 2006) SHOTLIST Hebron 1. Jewish settlers praying 2. Israeli policemen on horses 3. Soldiers walking 4. Soldiers patrolling 5. Policeman standing next to jeep 6. Policemen patrolling 7. Policeman talking through loud speaker, declaring closed military zone 8. Policemen carrying Jewish settler away 9. Teenage settlers getting into police van 10. Policemen walking in street Al Fawar refugee camp, south of Hebron 11. Israeli soldiers aiming weapons in street 12. Two Palestinians looking through window at soldiers 13. Army vehicle driving through street as stones are thrown 14. Soldiers knocking at door, Palestinian woman opening door 15. Youths throwing stones at army vehicle 16. Smoke in street 17. Close-up Israeli sniper aiming weapon 18. Soldier firing tear gas at Palestinian house, pan to house and smoke 19. Soldier firing in street 20. Two blindfolded Palestinian youths being arrested by Israeli soldiers STORYLINE The Israeli military has declared the Jewish section of the West Bank city of Hebron a closed zone, banning non-residents, after three days of riots by Israeli settlers and extremist backers against an order to evict Jewish squatters from the Arab market. The closure order, issued late on Monday by the area army commander Major General Yair Naveh, will be in effect until January 22, according to a military statement. Israeli military officials said on Tuesday that non-residents who have already entered the city wouldn't be forcibly evacuated, unless they were violent. The scuffles in Hebron could signal the opening salvo in a battle over the West Bank, if Israel follows its pullout from the Gaza Strip last summer with further withdrawals from territory that has far more biblical resonance. Settler leaders and rabbis demanded that acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert back down and abandon his plan to dismantle the outpost in a Hebron market and several other unauthorised settlements across the West Bank slated for destruction in the coming weeks. The fight over Hebron, where tradition says the biblical Jewish patriarchs are buried, has special significance for the Jewish settlers. Many of the settlers in Hebron are extreme religious nationalists, and the city has seen fierce fighting in the past five years of Israel-Palestinian violence. Hebron is the only West Bank city divided between Palestinian and Israeli zones. Israeli forces control the centre of the city, where about 500 settlers live in several compounds. The settlers often clash with local Palestinians. Also on Tuesday, the Israeli army imposed a curfew on the refugee camp of Al Fawar, south of Hebron. The soldiers searched houses and arrested several people suspected of terrorist activities. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
