West Bank bulldozer brawl as Israeli settler outpost is demolished

Israeli police clashed with settlers from their own country on Monday as an illegal outpost in the occupied West Bank was demolished following a flurry of violence.

A bulldozer was sent to the Tzur Misgavi outpost, south of Bethlehem, which Israeli authorities have linked to "severe incidents of violence". It was met with resistance from a group called Hilltop Youth, which is sanctioned in the US and Europe for seeking to expel Palestinians from their land.

Police said several people were injured, as young Israelis climbed on to a digger and allegedly attacked border guards with stones, iron bars and burning tyres. Footage showed a bulldozer crashing into the side of a building.

Israeli media said 25 families were evicted from the site. "Criminal activity and severe incidents of violence at the site affected the security of the area," said Cogat, the Israeli unit that runs civil affairs in the West Bank.

Israeli security personnel were sent in to demolish an illegal outpost south of Bethlehem. AFP

Members of Hilltop Youth, a settler organisation sanctioned in the US and Europe, run for cover during the clashes. AFP

Police were sent in with heavy machinery to evict settlers from the illegal outpost. AFP

Settler violence against Palestinians is common and rarely punished. But a recent spate of attacks has gone too far, even for some Israeli politicians.

President Isaac Herzog last week condemned the latest outbreak of violence, which included vandalism to a mosque, as “shocking and serious". Palestinians say the right-wing Israeli government tacitly encourages such attacks.

The UN said October had been the worst month for settler violence since it began recording incidents in 2006, with 264 attacks that caused casualties or damage to property. More than 500,000 Israelis now live in settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

While all Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international treaties, the term "outposts" is used for those that are also prohibited by Israeli law. However, many end up being legalised by the Israeli authorities.

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler himself, said he had ordered the demolition because the outpost was built on land already designated for a construction project. "No one is going to teach us how to build settlements," he said.

Israeli forces clashed with settlers during the demolition of the Tzur Misgavi site. AFP

Israeli authorities cited 'severe incidents of violence' as they staged a rare crackdown on settlers. AFP

An Israeli youth is dragged out of the settlement by police. AFP

In a video message to residents, Yaron Rosenthal, the head of a regional council, said he had been as