Local Editor

"Israeli" army on Saturday forced Palestinian activists to evacuate a West Bank encampment they tried to set up to protest against settlement building.

Earlier, Palestinians and foreign solidarity activists set up a new protest village in the south al-Khalil hills, and vowed to remain there despite "Israeli" forces attempts to dismantle the structures.
In details, activists set up steel-framed tents near the Palestinian village of al-Tuwani, calling the encampment "Canaan".
Younis Arar, coordinator of the popular committees in the southern West Bank, told Ma'an that soldiers assaulted the 30 activists, who gathered in the area.
"We began building the tents and were surprised when a large force of the "Israeli" army began attacking us and destroying tents and hitting us ... We will try and build Canaan village again," Arar said.

Meanwhile, an "Israeli" military spokeswoman claimed: "Soldiers evacuated illegal structures, and responded with riot dispersal means when around 100 Palestinians "rioted" in the area."
According to news agencies, a reporter said three journalists were also detained.
Yatta popular committee spokesman Ibrahim Rabee confirmed: "the protest camp was a stand against "Israeli" policies in the region."
"We are establishing Canaan on our land after our homes and water wells were demolished, and our people displaced," he said.
The south al-Khalil hills lies in an area of the West Bank under full "Israeli" military control. This comes as "Israel" continues to ban any building permits and demolishes homes and infrastructure, while supporting "Israeli" settlements in the area.

It is worth mentioning that he Canaan protest camp is the fourth such initiative in recent weeks.

In January, the Bab al-Shams village was set up in an area where "Israel" plans to build the "E1" settlement, severing the West Bank from Occupied al-Quds.
A week later, activists set up the Al-Asra, or prisoners, protest village in the village of Anin, northwest of Jenin.
Last Saturday, Palestinians established the "Al-Manatir neighborhood" encampment in an area of Burin village that activists say is slated for confiscation by a neighboring settlement.
"Israeli" forces have moved to evacuate each of the camps and dismantle their structures.


Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org