Israeli troops evict 250 settlers
Violence has erupted after Israeli troops and police evicted 250 Jewish settlers from the West Bank city of Hebron.
The move was aimed at sending a tough message to Jewish extremists fighting to keep what they see as God-promised land.
However, they responded with a wave of attacks against Israeli forces and Palestinians, even as Israeli politicians and even settler leaders denounced them.
After battling soldiers, the settlers -- many of them teenagers led by a radical from another part of the West Bank -- rioted in Hebron, setting fires near at least two Palestinian houses.
Nearby, frightened Palestinians cowered in their houses as settlers pelted the buildings with rocks. Meanwhile, Palestinians on rooftops threw rocks at the settlers and Israeli forces below.
About 35 settlers and soldiers were hurt in the battle. Rescue workers and Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital said one settler was moderately wounded, and the others were lightly injured. Palestinian hospital officials said 17 Palestinians were wounded, including five from bullets.
The Israeli rights group B'Tselem released video that appeared to show a settler shooting a Palestinian in the stomach from point-blank range, and Palestinians pelting the settler with rocks.
In other parts of the West Bank, settlers threw rocks at Palestinian vehicles and burned an olive grove, Palestinians said.
The Palestinian governor in the Nablus region, Jamal Moheisen, warned that if Israeli forces did not bring its settlers under control, "we will call on the Palestinian residents to go out to the streets and fight back."
Thursday's action at the structure the settlers named the "House of Peace" was the first major West Bank evacuation since a violent 2006 confrontation that injured dozens.
