Al Jazeera has reported today, Feb. 9, 2013, Israel destroys W Bank protest camp. Israel's army has forced Palestinian activists to evacuate a West Bank encampment which they had set up as a protest against illegal Israeli settlement construction. The Israeli army has declared the site a "closed military zone".
On Saturday Israeli soldiers destroyed tents that were being erected in two different areas near the southern West Bank town of Yatta. A Palestinian witness said the activists were forced to leave. Although no arrests were initially made, the Israeli soldiers used a cannon that shoots what is commonly referred to as "skunk" water, because of its foul smell, in order to disperse the activists. At the second site there were six people, which included two photographers, who were arrested.
Yahoo News has also reported on this story. Hebron human rights activist Issa Amro has told Al Jazeera, "Two Palestinian journalists were arrested during the evacuation - one works for AP and the other for PalMedia." Amro has also said, "The Israeli army does not distinguish the journalists from activists, or from the people living there-they just attacked everyone. They were very aggressive today."
