Israeli soldiers stand in the settlement Shaarey Tikva in the West Bank, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013, near the place where an Israeli soldier was killed. A Palestinian lured an Israeli soldier to a village in the West Bank and killed him with the intention of trading the body for his brother jailed for terror attacks, Israel’s intelligence agency said. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli prime minister has given the go-ahead for Jewish settlers to re-occupy a contested West Bank building.
Monday’s order comes in response to the death of an Israeli soldier near the biblical city of Hebron.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says in a statement that he has “ordered immediate action” for settlers to go into the house, which they briefly occupied last year.
The settlers claim they purchased the house from a Palestinian. The military evicted them because they hadn’t received authorization to live there.
Netanyahu’s office refused to elaborate further how the order would be implemented. Military spokesman Guy Inbar says the army is still investigating the settlers’ claim of purchase.
Also, Israel’s military says it’s still searching for the gunmen behind Sunday’s killing of the soldier in Hebron.
