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  Settlers Clash With Soldiers, Palestinians
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ContributorPenguin 
Last EditedPenguin  Jun 30, 2005 01:21am
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MediaWebsite - Yahoo News
News DateThursday, June 30, 2005 06:20:00 AM UTC0:0
DescriptionBy YANIV ZOHAR, Associated Press Writer 32 minutes ago

SHIRAT HAYAM, Gaza Strip - Jewish settlers holed up in an abandoned villa traded blows with Israeli troops Wednesday and then attacked Palestinians, critically wounding one before soldiers hauled them away.

In Gaza, several dozen young settlers, most teenagers, broke into an empty Palestinian villa in the al-Mawasi neighborhood next to the Shirat Hayam settlement Monday. They occupied the villa a day after the military tore down 11 derelict buildings nearby because they feared withdrawal opponents would use them as a base for violent resistance.

Trouble began Wednesday when the settlers and Palestinian residents began pelting each other with rocks. Violence escalated when soldiers moved in to stop the fight.

Extremist settlers slugged it out with the soldiers, including high-ranking officers, and struggled as soldiers dragged some through the sand to an army vehicle.

Soldiers fired rifles in the air to try to stop the confrontation, but were unable to curb the violence.

An Associated Press reporter saw a Palestinian, hit in the head by a rock, lying unconscious next to a building with blood pouring from his head. A young Israeli in a blue T-shirt and large skullcap identifying him as an Orthodox Jew raced around a corner and threw more rocks at the prone Palestinian.

The Jews wrote "Muhammad is a pig" in Hebrew on the villa and the reference to the Islamic prophet infuriated the Palestinians. Israeli military officials warned word of the desecration was spreading through Gaza and might lead to more violence.

At nightfall, soldiers stormed the villa and removed the squatters, witnesses said. The military said all 30 Israelis in the villa were arrested.

After sunset, Palestinians fired several mortar shells at southern Gaza settlements. A Thai worker was slightly injured, the military said.
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