Over 200 Injured in West Bank Riots

AMONA, West Bank (AP)  -- Israeli riot police wielding clubs and water cannons cleared out part of this illegal Jewish settlement outpost Wednesday, as resisters fought back with sticks, stones, bricks and paint. More than 200 were injured, one-quarter of them officers.

In anguished scenes reminiscent of last summer's Gaza withdrawal, the security forces dragged hundreds of protesters from rooftops barricaded in barbed wire and flattened empty homes with bulldozers and heavy machinery. The military said 32 people were arrested at the scene along with ``dozens of other rioters'' in the area.

The fierce battle was a likely harbinger of what lies ahead if Israel decides to leave other parts of the West Bank. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the front-runner in the March 28 Israeli elections, is widely expected to withdraw from more areas of the territory and dismantle additional Jewish settlements if he wins.

Olmert has said he is ready to make painful territorial concessions as part of a negotiated peace agreement with the Palestinians, but has signaled he will act unilaterally if an accord is not possible.

The likelihood of unilateral action -- including limited withdrawals meant to boost Israeli security -- has grown since the victory by the militant group Hamas in last week's Palestinian parliamentary elections.
   

Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, has come under world pressure to change its ways. In the first major challenge to Hamas, Israel froze the transfer of about $45 million owed to the Palestinians while Egypt called on the Islamic group to give up violence.

The Israeli decision deepened a financial crisis for the Palestinian Authority, which said it did not have enough money to meet its monthly payroll. Palestinian officials said they had arranged emergency funding from Arab allies.

The battle over Amona, an Israeli hilltop enclave in the heart of the West Bank, was seen as a test for Olmert, who has said he would act with determination against settlers violating the law.

The clashes were on par with the most violent scenes during the pullout from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, in which 25 settlements were dismantled.

"The behavior of the settlers cannot be tolerated,'' Olmert said. ``Today they crossed every line.''
 

The confrontation began Wednesday morning after Israel's Supreme Court ordered nine uninhabited houses recently built on private Palestinian land to be demolished. The remainder of the outpost -- including a synagogue, playground and cramped trailer homes inhabited by about 35 families -- was not affected.
   

During the daylong operation, the rioters, most of them young Orthodox Jews, including girls, pelted police with eggs, rocks, sand and paint-filled balloons from their rooftop strongholds.

Police burst into the homes, climbing ladders and riding in the shovels of bulldozers to reach the roofs. The protesters beat the police with sticks and set fires on the rooftops. Thick, black smoke from burning tires rose into the air and covered the area with a stench, as police aimed water cannons at the rioters.

Hundreds of protesters watched the melee from afar, occasionally scuffling with lines of riot troops, some on horseback. The houses were cleared out one by one, and bulldozers and large jackhammers knocked down the buildings.

Israel's rescue service said 219 people were injured, including 10 people in moderate to serious condition.

At a field clinic, people milled about, their heads wrapped in bandages and blood splattered on their shirts. Others sat dazed on the ground, their arms in slings. Several lay motionless on the ground, necks in braces, before being taken away by ambulances.

Shmuel Greenwald, an 18-year-old seminary student from Jerusalem who had holed up in one of the homes, accused police of using excessive force. ``They hit me on the back, no questions asked. They just came in swinging,'' he said.

Among the wounded were more than 50 police officers, one with serious head wounds, and two ultranationalist lawmakers who supported the protesters.

Amona is among dozens of illegal West Bank outposts established by Jewish settlers since the 1990s to prevent Israel from turning over the territory to the Palestinians. Under the U.S.-backed ``road map'' peace plan, Israel has pledged to remove about two dozen outposts.

Settlers and their extremist reinforcements vowed to fight that. ``If there is no resistance, the withdrawals will continue,'' said Uriel Shub, an 18-year-old West Bank settler who was injured in the elbow. Settlers and their backers say all of the West Bank belongs to the Jews.

Hamas maintains that all of Israel _ as well as the West Bank and Gaza Strip _ belongs to the Palestinians.

The United States and the European Union have said millions of dollars in aid could be in jeopardy unless Hamas renounces violence and recognizes Israel's right to exist.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev explained the decision to freeze this month's transfer of $45 million in taxes and customs payments to the Palestinian Authority by saying Israel and the world could not be expected to finance ``suicide bombings and violent jihad.''

A senior Palestinian official said Saudi Arabia and Qatar pledged to transfer $33 million to the Palestinian Authority to ease its budget crisis. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was not final.

In Egypt, officials said their country would send a strong message to Hamas to recognize Israel, disarm and honor past peace deals -- the latest sign of Arab governments pushing the group to moderate its stance.