Last update - 00:00 31/07/2007
Security forces remove 30 right-wing activists from Homesh
By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent
Police and Border Police troops forcibly removed around 30 right-wing activists from the ruins of the former West Bank settlement of Homesh early Tuesday morning.
The incident was the fourth time in the past week that security personnel have had to remove right-wing activists from the former settlement, evacuated as part of the disengagement in August 2005.
Last week security forces removed a few hundred demonstrators who were attempting to construct a building on the site of the ruins. Police and soldiers destroyed the structure and then removed several activists who had taken to nearby hills.
Also last week, police removed a group of youths who had squatted in the area for two days, where they read the Book of Lamentations for Tisha B'Av and listened to lectures by prominent West Bank rabbis.
Police and the Israel Defense Forces have decided to launch more concerted efforts to prevent activists from reaching the area, especially in light of recent changes in the senior command in the West Bank and mounting frustration with the frequent marches and demonstrations held by settlers in the area.
Security forces have expressed great frustration at the cat-and-mouse games they are forced to play with activists, which they say drain a great deal of time and resources that are needed in the fight against terror.
IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi has on numerous occasions expressed his dismay that soldiers have been required to miss training exercises in order to prevent protests in Homesh.