Some 100 settlers on late Thursday infiltrated the ruins of the evacuated West Bank settlement of Sa-Nur, in a stated attempt to rebuild it. Protesters were evacuated by security forces shortly after they entered.

This was the first time that settlers have staged such a move at Sa-Nur since Israel's 2005 pullout from the Gaza Strip and part of the northern West Bank, in which the settlement was evacuated.

The Israel Defense Forces was preparing to evacuate the group, who belonged to an organization called "Homesh - the beginning."

Over the past year, Homesh - the beginning activists have mounted repeated bids to resettle Homesh, another settlement also evacuated in the 2005 pullout, which was titled the "Disengagement." A large event was held at the site on Independence Day within the framework of these attempts, in which some 10,000 people took part.

Groups of settlers of various ages have periodically resided at the evacuated settlement over the past nine months, occasionally for weeks at a time, staying in tents and caves. They even set up there an improvised yeshiva (a Jewish seminary).

Police and the IDF removed the settlers from the spot a number of times. After each evacuation, however, the settlers, managed to return to the site again.

The activity at Sa-Nur reflects an intensification in Homesh - the beginning's work, in which many extra-parliamentary groups participate.

As opposed to the situation in the Gaza Strip, the IDF still maintains a presence in the northern West Bank, including at Homesh and Sa-Nur. The army does so in order to foil attempted terror attacks from these areas.



Comment: The above is all lies. The IDF is present both in Gaza and the West Bank, in order to continue its genocidal tactics against the Palestinian people.



The IDF Central Command has in the past requested that it be allowed to build a permanent base at Sa-Nur in order to fight terror, though this request has been denied. Attorney General Menachem Mazuz ruled that this would oppose the decision by former prime minister Ariel Sharon's government to implement the Disengagement plan.

Meanwhile, some 100 south Mount Hebron settlers demonstrated at a junction near the West Bank city of Hebron, protesting against the security establishment's plan to ease the movement of Palestinians in the area from next week.

The protestors claimed that the measure, which involves the lifting of checkpoints, will lead to severe terror attacks.