8 settlers briefly held for rioting, attacking Palestinians and troops in West Bank
Extremists storm towns after security forces evacuate illegal settlement outpost, where 2 Border Police officers were lightly hurt; IDF clashes with settlers trying to attack village
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Eight Israeli settlers were arrested by troops for rioting and assaulting Palestinians and IDF soldiers in the northern West Bank overnight and Wednesday morning, the Israel Police and the Shin Bet security service said.
Hours later, a court ordered all eight released.
Members of the Civil Administration, which runs civil affairs in the West Bank, and Border Police operated overnight to demolish illegal settler outpost construction near the Palestinian village of Beit Furik, close to Nablus. The outpost construction was on private Palestinian land.
During the evacuation of the Or Yosef outpost, the Israel Defense Forces said settlers hurled stones at the forces, injuring two Border Police officers.
A short while later, the settlers stormed Beit Furik, “set fire to property in the area and threw stones at the village,” according to the army.
In the nearby town of Huwara, settlers carried out another attack against Palestinians, setting fire to property and hurling stones.
The Yesh Din anti-occupation watchdog said a house of a family of seven was set ablaze, as well as two vehicles. The group said neighbors saved the family from the blaze, but the father was attacked with rocks and sticks and was hospitalized with skull fractures.
בעקבות הריסת המבנים הלא חוקיים ליד שכם, עשרות מתנחלים הציתו מבנים וכלי רכב בחווארה ובבית פוריכ@ndvori pic.twitter.com/ny2szaw5Fy
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) December 4, 2024
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Rujeib, another Palestinian village in the Nablus area, some 20 settlers gathered, the IDF said, apparently in preparation for another attack.
When IDF soldiers and Border Police troops arrived, the settlers clashed with the forces, the military said.
Additionally, Channel 12 news reported that the head of local security at the Yitzhar settlement fired shots into the air after he was attacked by masked men with batons.
The IDF said, “the incidents were dispersed and a number of Israelis were arrested and handed over to police for further questioning.”
“At these moments, many investigative actions are being carried out, which include gathering evidence, collecting findings from the scenes as well as questioning the suspects,” Israel Police and the Shin Bet security service said in a joint statement. The suspects were questioned by the police’s West Bank district and the Shin Bet.
“The IDF views any violence against its troops and members of the security forces, who work night and day for the security of the citizens of the area, very gravely,” the military said, adding that “these incidents must be condemned and those who break the law must be prosecuted.”
But at an arraignment later on Wednesday, a Jerusalem Magistrate ordered the eight released, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to hold them, the Haaretz newspaper reported.
No charges were announced.
Settler violence against Palestinians has soared since the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, and security forces have been accused of turning a blind eye to the attacks.
Prosecution in such cases is exceedingly rare, leading several Western countries to begin sanctioning Israeli extremists in the West Bank at the beginning of the year.
After Defense Minister Israel Katz last month ended the policy of administrative detention — used to hold suspects without formally charging them — against Israeli extremists in the West Bank, the United States lamented that Israel had dispensed with one of the few tools used to crack down on settler violence.
In the hours and days that followed the decision, there were several attacks reportedly perpetrated by settler extremists. Dozens of settlers hurled stones at Israeli troops and Border Police officers near the West Bank settlement of Itamar, and dozens of Jewish extremists visiting Hebron for an annual pilgrimage tried to attack the head of IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth.
Since October 7, 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’s health ministry, more than 716 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast 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.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
