Israeli police injured as illegal outpost settlers fight eviction (PHOTOS)

At least 23 Israeli police were injured during clashes with stone-throwing settlers at an eviction at the illegal Amona outpost in the West Bank on Thursday. Seven protesters were arrested.

The Israel Police said settlers threw stones at the officers as they were removed from the site. At least three settlers were reported injured in the eviction.

"During the evacuation, 300 protestors were involved in disturbances with police when stones and oil were thrown at them at the time of the evacuation,” police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.

The settlers set up caravans at the Amona site in December, saying they were protesting Palestinian violence in the West Bank. The site is considered a closed military zone, although the military did not stop them from entering or staying there.

The area was the site of a larger illegal outpost for over 20 years until February 2017, when authorities evicted 300 settlers from Amona after a long legal battle ended, with the Supreme Court ruling the site was built without Israeli government permission on private Palestinian land. 

© Menahem Kahana / AFP

While most of the international community considers settlements built on land occupied by Israel in the 1967 war as illegal, under both the Fourth Geneva Convention and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, Israel does not. It continues to approve new settlements in the West Bank, with an additional 2,000 homes approved just last week.

Amona and other illegal outposts are called such as they are constructed without government permission. However, the Israeli government often supports these outposts by supplying them with electricity and water.

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