The foreign staff of an international observer mission decided Wednesday to leave the West Bank city of Hebron after hundreds of Palestinians stormed its compound as dozens of foreigners were trapped inside.
About 300 Palestinians attacked the complex of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), throwing stones, smashing windows and trying to set a building on fire to protest Danish cartoons seen as insulting Islam.
Gunhild Forselv, spokesperson for TIPH told The Jerusalem Post that after the incident a tense calm prevailed outside the headquarters where both armed Palestinian police and IDF forces deployed to protect the 60-strong members of the mission.
"It lasted for about 15 minutes, there were no banners, just a bunch of teenagers throwing stones," she said. Some of the demonstrators succeeded in jumping over the gate and caused damage to property before they were pushed out.
"It is a weird situation. Outside we have Palestinian police who are permitted to carry arms by Israel as well as IDF soldiers protecting us."
The protesters, most of them youths, chased away outnumbered Palestinian police who were stationed outside the mission more than a week ago because of the unrest, Forselv said.
But reinforcements were called in, and police took up position again, pushing back the protesters and regaining control of the situation. By that time, protesters had smashed nearly all of the windows in the mission's three-story office building, and battered three TIPH cars. According to Forselv, a local Hamas leader has also arrived at the site in an effort to calm the situation.
IDF troops arrived at the site after the protest was subdued.
Currently, she said, there has been no further violence but TIPH members are wearing flack jackets and helmets. Meanwhile, the IDF said that soldiers would only intervene if the TIPH members required their protection and asked their assistance.
Forselv added that already a week ago 11 Danish members were informed by their embassy to leave the Hebron site temporarily until the situation calms down.
Caricatures first published in Denmark, then reprinted in various European newspapers, showed the Prophet Muhammad - itself an offense because Islamic tradition bars the depiction of the faith's founder. Fueling the outrage was one cartoon showing Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban.
The offending cartoons have touched off protests in the middle east, Muslim countries in Southeast Asia and Europe, with aggrieved demonstrators issuing death calls and demanding a boycott of Danish and European goods.
The international observer mission in Hebron had decided, in consultation with the Hebron governor, to maintain a low profile, and temporarily canceled regular patrols, which resumed Wednesday, Forselv said. She said they had received assurances earlier from armed groups that the mission wouldn't be attacked, and on Sunday, one group issued a public statement of its support for TIPH and pledged to protect it.
TIPH, made up of unarmed observers from Scandinavian and other European countries, was established in 1994 after Baruch Goldstein killed 29 Palestinians at a Hebron holy site. It serves as a buffer between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the volatile city.
Animals. The frenzy is getting worse each day. Excellent.
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