Police clash with Israeli far-right in West Bank
Israeli far-right activists clashed with police Thursday as authorities moved in to clear away two mobile homes illegally set up in the occupied West Bank.
Some 300 protesters threw metal bars, stones and oil at Israeli police, while officers responded with tear gas as the operation began around 5:00 am (0300 GMT) at the former wildcat settlement of Amona, police said.
The windswept site -- on a hilltop near Ramallah -- was cleared of protesters by around 9:00 am and workers with large flatbed trucks were preparing to take away the two mobile homes put there in recent weeks.
Settlers packed furniture and supplies into a van and drove away, while mattresses, a refrigerator, chairs and other items remained scattered in the area.
Police said 23 officers were lightly wounded, while seven arrests had been made.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said they were enforcing a court order declaring the structures there illegal.
After the confrontation, groups of young far-right activists, some with their faces covered, could be seen gathered in the nearby Israeli settlement of Ofra.
"When the policemen arrived, they tried to break in (to the mobile homes) but failed, so they started firing tear gas inside," said Oren Amitai.
"People were coughing and coughing non-stop," said the 43-year-old, who used to be a resident of the Amona wildcat settlement.
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