West Bank Settlers Cleared Quickly

(CBS/AP)  Thousands of troops cleared out the main bastions of resistance to the evacuation of two militant settlement Tuesday, evacuating hundreds of extremists who had barricaded themselves in houses, synagogues and a fortress to protest Israel's first dismantling of West Bank communities.

Forces, some in riot gear, used circular saws, water hoses and wirecutters to forge their way through barricades that protesters in Sanur and Homesh erected to make things difficult for evacuating troops.

To clear out the settlement's synagogue, Israeli forces used a trick that worked in Gaza, reports CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger: Two cranes lifted shipping containers onto the roof full of Israeli soldiers, who then stormed onto the rooftop and arrested the settlers.

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CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger reports the evictions in Sanur, West Bank, are all but complete.

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About 10,000 troops had been mobilized to clear out the two settlements, where the resistance was staged mainly by Israelis from outside the communities, some of them West Bank youths known for extremism and rejection of the Israeli government's authority.

Hundreds of protesters holed up inside an old British fortress in Sanur where most of the settlement's resisters had barricaded themselves. Forces carrying shields and wearing helmets used saws to cut open the building's iron doors.

Troops brought out resisters, some with legs and arms thrashing, from the ground floor of the building as dozens of resisters danced on the rooftop. Some wore orange stars of David on their shirts, reminiscent of the yellow stars Nazis forced Jews to wear.

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