IDF nabs Palestinian suspected of daubing swastikas on West Bank road barriers
Yeshiva students clean graffiti from concrete blocks placed on road used by settlers outside Nablus, in latest use of Nazi symbol by Palestinians in the area
The Israeli army said Friday that it had arrested a Palestinian man suspected of spray-painting swastikas along a road used by settlers in the northern West Bank.
The graffiti was spotted near the Palestinian village of Hawara early Friday morning on large concrete blocks that the military often uses as road barriers. They are located on a road utilized daily by settlers living in Israeli communities deep in the northern West Bank.
The suspect was transferred to Israel Police. A law enforcement spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on whether he had been charged.
Students from a yeshiva in the nearby Yitzhar settlement spent several hours paining over each of the swastikas.
In recent months, the Nazi symbol has become a feature in several protests by Palestinians in the West Bank against Israeli settlements and illegal outposts, drawing criticism from Knesset lawmakers.
Last month, Palestinian protesters hung a Nazi flag bearing the swastika symbol in the West Bank village of Beit Ummar near Hebron.
The flag was attached to electrical cables near an Israeli army post. It was later removed by the soldiers stationed in the area.
In August this year, Palestinians protesting against the Elazar outpost in the northern West Bank set fire to a Star of David combined with a swastika.
In 2018, Palestinians at the Gaza border flew into Israel a kite marked with a swastika and carrying a petrol bomb.