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Israeli Supreme Court rules contested West Bank settlement complex must be demolished

Associated Press
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An Israeli settler sleeps under a banner of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the Jewish settlement of Beit El after a night stand off with police, near the West Bank town of Ramallah, Wednesday, July 29, 2015. The Israeli Prime Minister's office said Wednesday it has approved the "immediate construction" of 300 housing units in the West Bank settlement of Beit El. The announcement came amid a standoff, where Israeli settlers clashed with Israeli forces as authorities began to dismantle the contested West Bank settlement housing complex after Israel's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that it must be demolished. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov) (The Associated Press)

An Israeli settler sleeps in the Jewish settlement of Beit El after a night stand off with police, near the West Bank town of Ramallah, Wednesday, July 29, 2015. The Israeli Prime Minister's office said Wednesday it has approved the "immediate construction" of 300 housing units in the West Bank settlement of Beit El. The announcement came amid a standoff, where Israeli settlers clashed with Israeli forces as authorities began to dismantle the contested West Bank settlement housing complex after Israel's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that it must be demolished. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov) (The Associated Press)

Israeli settlers sleep in the Jewish settlement of Beit El after a night stand off with police, near the West Bank town of Ramallah, Wednesday, July 29, 2015. The Israeli Prime Minister's office said Wednesday it has approved the "immediate construction" of 300 housing units in the West Bank settlement of Beit El. The announcement came amid a standoff in Beit El, where Israeli settlers clashed with Israeli forces as authorities began to dismantle a contested West Bank settlement housing complex after Israel's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that it must be demolished. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov) (The Associated Press)

Israel's Supreme Court has ruled that a contested West Bank settlement housing complex must be demolished.

The Israeli government had fought the ruling and made efforts to legalize the complex, under construction in Beit El without Israeli authorization. The Supreme Court rejected a petition Wednesday to overturn the court's initial ruling to demolish the complex.

The court ordered that the demolition be completed Thursday.

The military has declared the complex a closed military zone and removed protesters that had holed themselves up inside.

Tempers are high among some in the settler community as it marks a decade since Israel's "disengagement" from the Gaza Strip, when Israel in the summer of 2005 withdrew all its civilians and soldiers from all of the settlements in the coastal territory.