Israel calls for police to replace military in handling West Bank settlers

Israel's defence minister called Friday for the police to take over law enforcement in the occupied West Bank from the military, which has come under fire from the right-wing for trying to remove settlers harassing Palestinians.

 

The measure, if implemented, would be a step towards Israeli annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory -- something several ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government openly call for.

The announcement comes almost a week into a siege by Israeli settlers who have blockaded Palestinians inside their homes in the northern West Bank, repeatedly returning despite attempts by the military to remove them.

Palestinian residents of three houses in Qusra near Nablus say they have been effectively cut off from food and other supplies since the siege began on Sunday.

Against the backdrop of the blockade, Defence Minister Israel Katz's office announced he had "instructed the army to prepare a plan to transfer all enforcement powers regarding civil matters among Israeli communities and population in Judea and Samaria to the Israel Police," using the Biblical term for the West Bank.

The military would continue to exercise power over Palestinian residents of the West Bank.

"The police will prepare and establish an appropriate force to handle civil matters, and will be granted all necessary powers and budgets," the statement said.

Israeli media reported, however, that a transfer of enforcement powers would be highly unlikely to go through before national elections scheduled for October 27, which polls show are looking tight.

AFP