Defiant Settlers Resist Eviction From West Bank Outpost

Jewish settlers light tires on fire as Israeli security forces prepared to evict the hardline occupants of the unauthorized Amona settlement, northeast of Ramallah in the West Bank on Feb. 1, 2017.

Amona is the largest of about 100 unauthorized outposts erected in the West Bank without permission but generally tolerated by the Israeli government. Israel's Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that Amona was built on private Palestinian land and must be demolished. It set Feb. 8 as the final date for it to be destroyed.

Jewish settlers barricade themselves inside a building as security forces prepare to evict them. 

About 50 families, some 250 people, live in Amona now. In recent weeks dozens of mostly young supporters, including high school students, have arrived to face off against Israeli forces. 

Unarmed Israeli security forces gather at the Amona outpost.

A police spokesman said some 3,000 police officers were operating "carefully and slowly" to evacuate the area.

Settlers and their supporters lock arms inside a house as Israeli security forces try to evict them.

Israeli security forces carry away a settler.

Israeli settlers barricade themselves in their house as Israeli security forces arrive.

Settlers and their supporters resist eviction inside a house at the settlement.

Israeli security forces carry away a settler.

Israeli settlers and their supporters block the road during the evacuation of the settlement.

In 2006, Israeli police demolished nine homes at Amona, setting off violent clashes pitting settlers and their supporters against police and soldiers and turning the outpost into a symbol of settler defiance.

An Israeli settler looks out the window of a barricaded house.

Israeli security forces remove settlers and their supporters from a house.

Israeli police evict settlers in the West Bank outpost Amona.

Israeli settlers react as security forces evict them from a building at the Amona outpost. 

A settler jumps into a trailer at the outpost.

While readying to evacuate Amona, Israel announced plans to build 3,000 homes in the West Bank late Tuesday. The Palestinians claim the territory, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, as parts of a future independent state — a position that has wide international backing. Much of the territory, which was seized in the 1967 war, has deep religious and historical significance for both Jews and Muslims.