Settler youth attack firefighters in Beit El

A team of firefighters was attacked Monday night by local youth wielding clubs and stones in the West Bank settlement of Beit El, north of Ramallah.

Two firefighters, both officers, were lightly injured in the incident and taken to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital in Mount Scopus for treatment.

Police in the area were reportedly familiar with the youths in question, and their arrest is expected imminently.

The firefighters had been called to the area to put out a burning trash receptacle. According to Walla news, the young attackers were upset when the firefighters blocked a road in order to deal with the flames.

Earlier this month in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, local residents stormed an IDF post and destroyed army property in an incident that was characterized as a harbinger of terrorist acts to come by Israel’s top military leader.

In an interview with Army Radio, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz said that failing to respond to such incidents with a heavy hand would result in future crimes carried out by extremist settlers in the West Bank.

“The nationalist crimes will develop into terrorism, and that would be a significant threat to the State of Israel,” Gantz said.

“We will continue to ensure security and [enforce] the law,” he added.