Israeli police Wednesday arrested several West Bank settlers hindering enforcement of a construction restraint in their settlements, local daily The Jerusalem Post reported.
At the Beit Aryeh settlement in central West Bank, local mayor Avi Naim was put into custody on suspicion of disrupting police work as dozens of local residents attempted to prevent government inspectors from entering, said the report.
At a settlement near the West Bank city of Nablus, police dispersed a crowd of some 60 protestors and detained two before enforcement personnel could enter the settlement for inspection, Xinhua reported.
Similar confrontations have continued for days since the Israeli government beefed up efforts to implement a 10-month suspension of new building projects in the West Bank.
The moratorium, announced last week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, triggered a surge of protests from right-wing politicians and settlers, who have vowed to resist the order by various means despite the government's pledge for strict enforcement.
In response to the scathing criticism, Netanyahu on Tuesday evening reiterated his stance that the current policy is a one- time, temporary deal and that construction will resume once the time frame ends.
While Israel stresses that the moratorium marks a rare comprise by the Jewish state aimed to revive the stalled peace talks with the Palestinians, the Palestinian side has called it insufficient, as the restraint excludes some 3,000 settlement housing units already approved and construction in Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.
The Palestinians said they would not return to the negotiation table until Israel totally freezes its construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.