The Israeli District Court ordered the removal of extremist Israeli settlers from a Palestinian home they illegally occupied several years ago in Tal Romedia neighborhood, in the occupied southern West Bank city of Hebron.The settlers occupied the property several years ago, and used it as an outpost and as a base for repeated attacks and violations against homes and residents in the area.
The Hebron Reconstruction Committee, and the owners of the property, went through an extended legal battle in Israeli courts, including the Appeals Court, the Military Appeals Court, and finally the Israeli District Court.
The home in question belongs to members of Al-Bakri family; the settlers occupied the property under false claims of ownership and fabricated documents.
The Israeli court gave the settlers until May, 15, 2012, to leave the Palestinian property so that the owners can move back in.
The Committee stated that extremist Israeli settlers are ongoing with their violations and attacks against the indigenous Palestinian population of the city, adding that it demanded the Israeli court to order the army to end these violations.
Israeli settlers in the occupied territories usually build their outposts on the hilltops and by stealing Palestinian farmlands and orchards, but similar to occupied East Jerusalem, settlers in Hebron are not only living in settlements built by Israel around Hebron, and on its hill, but also settle in the heart of the Old City an issue that leads to constants clashes between them and the local residents.
The settlers are responsible for numerous attacks against the Palestinians, their property and their lands; these attacks include harassing and attacking school children, assaults, including armed assaults against the residents in their homes and lands, and by illegally occupying Palestinian homes in sensitive areas in the city such as Tal Romeida and Ash-Shuhada Street.
Israel closed Ash-Shuhada Street, allowing only settlers to use it, since the Ibarahimi Massacre was carried out by Baroch Goldstein in 1994, when he opened fire at Muslim worshipers in the mosque; more than 100 Palestinians were killed in the attack and the resulting clashes with the soldiers and the settlers, hundreds of residents were injured, while some injuries lead to permanent disabilities.
There are more than 200.000 Palestinians live in Hebron city, subject to constant attacks and harassment by Israeli soldiers and settlers.
500 Israeli settlers live in and around the Old City of Hebron; approximately %65 of the total Hebron district area have been illegally taken over for the benefit of settlement construction, expansion, military camps, settler outposts, and settler bypass roads.
