Israeli forces evict Hebron settlers

(What prompted the police to carry out the evictions?) The army was following a court order from the Israeli courts, which ruled that the house had to be evacuated because the ownership of the house is being disputed. The Palestinian owners in Hebron claim they’re the owners and the sale of the house to settlers was fraudulent and shouldn’t stand. The Israeli courts have yet to decide who owns the house, but they did rule two weeks ago that the house should be evacuated and gave a three day deadline for the settlers to evacuate peacefully. That deadline expired ten days ago, so today the army moved in. (This argument has been brewing for a while. Why such a big argument over one house?) It’s been occupied by settlers since March 2007 and it’s right in the heart of Hebron which is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. This house is strategically important because it’s between the Israeli settlement near Hebron and the religiously important site which is holy to Jews and Muslims. (Finally, remind us of the significance of Hebron and the backdrop of this Israeli settlement near Hebron.) It’s a peculiar place, but Hebron is a Palestinian city of over 100,000 people and in the center of that is a Jewish settlement, which makes Hebron a very tense place. Normal life is not possible there because of this. So this house has just become a flashpoint for tensions in a tense town.