An Israeli lawmaker on Tuesday joined some rebellious Jewish settlers in a protest against a Supreme Court order to evacuate a disputed house near the West Bank city of Hebron.
Rabbi Nissim Zeev, from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, moved into the four-storey building a day before the deadline expires for the settlers to move out voluntarily, local daily The Jerusalem Post reported, quoting Zeev as saying that he would try to discourage the eviction by his presence.
The controversial house has been occupied by dozens of hard-line settlers since March 2007, who dub the structure "the house of peace" and claim that they have bought the house from its Palestinian owner.
Yet the owner said that he had never received full payment and thus the deal was null and void.
On Sunday, the Supreme Court ordered that the inhabitants should leave the house within three days, or the police would be authorized to force them out, a ruling condemned by right-wing lawmakers and settlement leaders.
"It's outrageous that the High Court didn't conduct a hearing on the contract itself and it is shocking they are evacuating people that own a property for all kinds of foolish reasons," Shas leader Eli Yishai was quoted as saying.
The ruling is likely to trigger a violent confrontation between the hard-line settlers and their supporters and Israeli security forces, as some settlers have threatened an Amona-style resistance.
It alludes to massive clashes between settlers and security forces during the evacuation of the West Bank outpost of Amona in early 2006, in which some 300 people were injured.
The flare-up is also looming against the backdrop of increasing tensions between radical settlers and security forces. Israeli leaders have repeatedly pledged to rein in the extremists who vowed to prevent Israeli police and army from demolishing illegal outposts in the West Bank.