Eight settler families, who took over eight Palestinian stores, at a market in the West Bank city of Hebron, were handed out eviction notices by representatives of the Israeli Civil Administration Office.
An Israeli military source reported that dozens of settlers confronted with the soldiers, and police officers, who accompanied the officials, and threw water, flour and eggs at them; Settlers claimed that violence was initiated by the soldiers.
Israeli media sources reported that eviction orders demands the settler families to evacuate the stores by January 15.
The settlers, who were informed in advance of the intentions of the Civil Administration Office to hand them the eviction orders, said in a press release before receiving the orders that they "will resist, and reject the evacuation".
The settler families controlled the Palestinian stores and turned them into homes after expelling their owners. The settlers claim that the land belongs to Jewish families which lived there before 1929.
The Israeli High Court of Justice recently ordered security forces to evacuate the settlers from the market after they were unable to provide proof that they owned the property.
Settlement activities in Hebron started after Israeli occupied the West Bank in 1967; settlers carried repeated attacks against Palestinian families in the city and expelled them.
Also, consecutive Israeli governments aided the settlers to construct outposts in the city of Hebron, including the Old City, and around it.
After the settlers occupied the eight Palestinian stores in 2001, the Hebron municipality appealed the Israeli High Court to evacuate them; the court ordered their evacuation but the army did not implement the court ruling.
After 1994 and the outbreak of the 2000 Palestinian Intifada, the Israeli army closed down the market.
It is worth mentioning that the Israeli authorities said that it will evacuate them by December 2005, but installed the implementation of the court ruling fearing confrontation with the settlers.
The settlers will have until January to vacate the area willingly, or be forcefully evacuated in February.
