Israeli police on Wednesday forced about 20 foreign diplomats to cut short a walking tour of the Israeli-controlled sector of the tense West Bank city of Hebron, the visitors said. The diplomats were from Europe, Latin America and the Far East, said Jose de la Cruz, a representative of Chile. The group was escorted by Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki. Hebron, the West Bank's largest city, is divided under an Israeli-Palestinian interim deal. Israeli forces control the center where several hundred militant Jewish settlers live. Palestinians often complain about harassment by settlers and say Israeli security forces tend to look the other way or side with the settlers. De la Cruz said that even though Wednesday's trip was cut short, it was "very useful to a diplomat, as a foreign observer, to see the reality on the ground."
Other foreign visitors have encountered problems in Hebron in the past.
In April, seven German lawmakers said they were insulted and threatened by settlers during a Hebron tour, but Israeli security forces refused to step in. Israel's ambassador to Germany apologized for the incident. In July, a delegation of human rights activists from South Africa complained of being harassed by settlers in Hebron. Police at the time said the visitors had entered a restricted zone.
Wednesday's incident began when the diplomats, accompanied by the Palestinian governor of Hebron, were walking through downtown Hebron. At one point, several settlers and Israeli security forces arrived. De la Cruz said police then told the visitors they could not proceed.
"They simply put a number of people and cars across the road, so we couldn't continue, and they didn't accept our credentials as diplomats," he said in a telephone interview.
De la Cruz said the group was then told to return to the Palestinian-controlled sector of Hebron. The Israeli military said the tour had been coordinated with Israeli authorities. The Israeli Foreign Ministry initially said the tour had not been coordinated, and then said permission had only been given for a visit to a holy shrine in Hebron.
Israeli police issued the following statement: "About 100 Palestinians and left-wing activists were walking ... in the center of Hebron. Police and Israeli Defense Forces personnel diverted those who were walking to the neighborhood of Jabel Joha (in the Palestinian-controlled part of Hebron)."
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said two Palestinians were arrested after attacking police officers.
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