Word: hebron
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...biblical city of Hebron burned late into the night Thursday, as militant Israeli settler youth went on a violent rampage through Palestinian neighborhoods, burning the property of, shooting at and beating random Palestinians they came across. The militants were reacting to an eviction earlier that day by Israeli security forces of settlers occupying a Hebron house whose ownership is in dispute. Initial indications were that the rioting settlers had injured at least 15 Palestinians, two or three of whom had suffered gunshot wounds, and Israeli security officials were on high alert to prevent any attempted settler terrorist attacks on Palestinian...
...arriving Palestinian commanders got a foretaste of Hebron's explosive nature on Saturday night when Jewish settlers went on a rampage after Israeli police, backed by the Israel Defense Forces, destroyed houses erected by several militant Jewish settlers inside a Palestinian-owned olive grove. The settlers, many of them armed, swarmed into a Palestinian neighborhood, smashing cars and vandalizing a Muslim cemetery...
...their enemies, that they will all be [kidnapped IDF soldier] Gilad Shalit, that they will all be killed and all slaughtered because this is what they deserve," it read. Settler wrath was also aimed at Washington. Commenting on the arrival of the U.S.-sponsored Palestinian security forces in Hebron, settler leader Baruch Marzel told TIME: "It's like asking Bin Laden's men to come protect Manhattan." He added: "They're terrorists. We'll shoot them if they come near our houses...
...keep that from happening, the Palestinian forces will be deployed in the southern and western sides of Hebron, away from direct contact with the settlers. But lately, Jewish extremists have been straying from their gated outposts and attacking Palestinian shepherds and families harvesting the olive groves. "We're not worried," says Gen. Diab Ali, commander of Palestinian security forces in the West Bank. "We are counting on the Israeli army to control the settlers." One senior Israeli officer concurs. "The Palestinians won't be close to the settlements. They'll be confronting Hamas, and this is in our best interests...
...Hamas, says the Palestinian commander, "We're here to bring law and order to Hebron, and that means confiscating weapons from everybody, even the political groups." The U.S.-supported Palestinian force may be armed and well-disciplined, but in Hebron that may not be enough. With Jewish settlers and Hamas gunning for them, the Palestinian officers will need to display caution and diplomacy...