IDF says dozens of masked settlers carried out arson attack on West Bank village
Military suspects perpetrators came from settlement of Itamar, after a Palestinian reportedly attacked Israeli man and stole herd of sheep
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Dozens of masked settlers set fire to several buildings and a car in the West Bank village of Beit Furik near Nablus on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Before the violent attack, the IDF said it received reports that Palestinians had stolen a herd of sheep and attacked an Israeli man.
A short while later, dozens of masked Israelis entered Beit Furik, where a “violent confrontation developed between them and the Palestinians who were there, which included mutual stone throwing,” according to the military.
Troops and Border Police officers were then dispatched to the scene, and they used riot dispersal means to clear the rioters, the IDF said, adding that it is unaware of any injuries in the violence. No arrests have been made.
Prosecution in such cases is particularly rare, in what has led several Western countries to begin sanctioning Israeli extremists destabilizing the West Bank at the beginning of the year.
“The IDF condemns events of this type and will continue to act with determination to maintain security and order in the region,” the military said in a statement.
According to Haaretz, the military suspects the perpetrators came from the settlement of Itamar, which is known for its particularly far-right population.
♦️ מיליציות מתנחלים תוקפים את אזור שכונת "הקצינים" בעיירה בית פוריק, מזרחית לשכם, ובמהלך ההתקפה פרצו עימותים עם התושבים. pic.twitter.com/hz5xBJT8vJ
— Asslan Khalil (@KhalilAsslan) November 16, 2024
Last month, settlers torched homes and agricultural lands in the Palestinian village of Jalud. In September, nine people were injured after settlers attacked Palestinians and human-rights activists in the Jordan Valley.
Settler violence spiked after the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre. Violence has swelled since the start of the olive harvest season last month, when the United Nations said that farmers were facing “the most dangerous olive season ever.”
Israeli authorities rarely arrest Jewish perpetrators in such attacks. Rights groups lament that convictions are even more unusual and that the vast majority of charges in these types of attacks are dropped.
Since October 7 last year, troops have arrested some 5,250 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,050 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 716 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says a majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 41 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
