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 Ministers and members of parliament from Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's Likud party decried Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon's
refusal to sign off on the settlers' occupation of the homes in
Hebron, a city of high tension between Israelis and Palestinians.
The settlers said they had bought the properties legally from
Palestinian owners but in order to occupy the apartments they need
Defense Ministry approval. Yaalon said the settlers had not complied
with the law.
"I have no intention of compromising when the law is broken so
egregiously," he said in a statement. "To take occupancy of the
homes, a number of actions are required and none were carried out,
which is why the trespassers were evicted."
Three right-wing lawmakers, two from Likud and another from the
ultranationalist Jewish home party, said they would not attend
parliamentary votes on Monday in protest at the move.
 "It is forbidden to evict Jews from their homes and there will be
consequences, we demand the prime minister's involvement in the
matter," said Ayoub Kara, a Druze Arab Likud lawmaker.
Hebron, a city of about 220,000 Palestinians in the south of the
West Bank, has long been a source of tension, fueled by the presence
of around 1,000 Jewish settlers who live in the heart of the city
protected by Israeli troops.
The city is the location of the Cave of the Patriarchs, a revered
Jewish shrine, which sits alongside the Ibrahimi Mosque, worshipped
by Muslims as the Sanctuary of Abraham.
Netanyahu's coalition commands a one-seat majority of 61 in Israel's
120-seat Knesset, making the opposition of three MPs sensitive.
However, even if it suffers a defeat in parliament, the government
is not seen as likely to collapse.
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said Yaalon's move was "scandalous",
while Diaspora Affairs Minister Zeev Elkin described it as "wrong".
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The settlers moved into the apartments on Thursday and were evicted
on Friday morning. Television footage showed scuffles as the police
forced them out. Police said about 80 settlers had been removed
without major incident.
Israeli settlements in occupied territory are highly contentious.
Deemed illegal by most countries, they are a fundamental issue in
the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
In its latest seizure, Israel confirmed on Thursday it was planning
to appropriate a large tract of land in the West Bank, drawing
condemnation from the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
and the United States, Israel's closest ally.
The Palestinians want to establish an independent state in the West
Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in the 1967
Middle East War. Talks have been frozen since April, 2014.
About 550,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank and East
Jerusalem combined while about 350,000 Palestinians live in East
Jerusalem and 2.7 million in the West Bank.
Since the start of October, Palestinian stabbings, car-rammings and
shootings have killed 25 Israelis and a U.S. citizen. In the same
period, at least 148 Palestinians have been killed, 94 of whom
Israel has described as assailants.
(Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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