Israeli occupation forces destroy the new village of Bab ush-Shams (bab al-Shams)

Israeli forces destroy the village of Gate of the Sun, detaining dozens of its residents. (Photo: Felesteen.ps)

Israeli special forces have detained Palestinian villagers in the protest encampment of Bab al-Shams, in the E1 area of the West Bank, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the eviction Saturday night. The Israeli Supreme Court had issued a stay of eviction Friday (responding to a petition filed in anticipation of the raid).

 Update: There remains confusion about what exactly unfolded Saturday night. Al Jazeera reported: Netanyahu's office "was petitioning the Supreme Court to rescind an earlier injunction blocking the evacuation. In the meantime, he ordered the area declared a closed military zone and shut off access." While the New York Times says that, "The court overturned the injunction [Saturday night], allowing the people to be removed from the site."

Around 3 a.m. on Sunday approximately 500 Special Forces soldiers from the Yasam unit surrounded the campers, detaining all 150 overnight residents according to Palestinian activist and media producer Irene Nasser. When the raid began Nasser told me she was in the medical tent and was informed, "'they're here." She exited to find "hundreds and hundreds [of soldiers] just a few feet from us." Nasser explained that due to the hills and absence of lights in E1, Bab al-Shams's villagers were unable to identify when the raid would begin until it was in progress.
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