JERUSALEM — Protesters burned tyres and tried to block a main Jerusalem traffic artery on Monday in solidarity with West Bank settlers who clashed with police earlier in the day.“About 50 people tried to block the main road at the entrance to Jerusalem,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP. “They set fire to a number of tyres, seven people were arrested...they have been dispersed.”
Early on Monday morning police and settlers scuffled at the West Bank settlement outpost of Havat Gilad over the demolition of a cabin there.
“The incident began when employees of the (military) administration came to dismantle illegal constructions and were met with stone-throwing by the residents of Havat Gilad,” Rosenfeld said.
He said eight settlers were arrested by police protecting officials trying to demolish the cabin and the foundations of several other illegal buildings. Five settlers were arrested for possession of knives and spikes they used to puncture the tyres of security forces, Rosenfeld said.
Settlers at Havat Gilad told AFP that five of them were injured by rubber bullets, but the police denied using such weapons during the confrontation.
Havat Gilad is home to about 20 settler families and yeshiva (religious schools) students.