IDF soldier moderately hurt as settlers attack troops evacuating West Bank outpost
Tzur Harel was emptied on Monday as well, with settlers, far-right MK decrying new defense minister for the move; separately, Palestinian shot after trying to stab troops
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
An Israeli soldier was moderately wounded after a group of some 50 settlers hurled stones and glass bottles at troops, following the evacuation of an illegal West Bank outpost on Tuesday, the military said.
The Tzur Harel outpost, close to Givat Asaf, east of Ramallah, was evacuated by authorities on Tuesday morning for the second time in a day, prompting a riot by the settlers.
During the rioting, a soldier was hit in the head by a glass bottle and taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem for treatment, according to the Israel Defense Forces. He was listed in moderate condition.
The IDF in a statement condemned the “grave incident” and said “dozens of Israeli citizens threw stones at the forces, who responded with riot dispersal means.”
Border Police officers detained two suspects involved in the rioting, the military added.
According to the Civil Administration, which runs civil affairs in the West Bank, the illegal outpost is built on private Palestinian land and has been razed by security forces and then rebuilt by settlers several times. The outpost is named for Captain (res.) Harel Sharvit, a reservist who was killed in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip in January.
A statement on behalf of the settlers Monday expressed dismay over the measure and said that newly appointed Defense Minister Israel Katz should not continue the policies of his predecessors.
“Israel Katz began with his left foot forward,” the statement read, appearing to describe the defense minister’s policy as left-wing. “Despite the destruction, we will continue with all our strength.”
לוחם צה"ל נפצע בינוני בראשו לאחר שפורעים יהודים זרקו עליו בקבוק זכוכית במהלך התפרעויות אלימות לאחר הריסת מבנים במאחז עוז ציון@hod_barel pic.twitter.com/JcCXNPhoR0
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) November 12, 2024
Far-right Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech said Monday that that day’s demolition coincided with Sharvit’s birthday, and called on Katz to let it stand, in a post on X.
“The hilltops and the farms protect our homeland and save us from territorial contiguity of the Palestinian Authority, which finances and operates the murderers of our children,” she wrote.
At the beginning of July, extremist settler activists attacked Civil Administration and Border Police personnel during a similar operation to demolish the Tzur Harel outpost, throwing Molotov cocktails at the security forces, burning tires, and setting a vehicle on fire at the entrance to the outpost when the forces arrived to evacuate the site.
The outposts are considered illegal under Israeli law as they were built without government approval, some of them on privately owned Palestinian land, although the government has moved to authorize several of them. The international community considers all West Bank settlements illegal.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian suspect who attempted to stab IDF soldiers near the West Bank town of Dayr Sharaf was shot late afternoon Tuesday.
There were no other injuries in the incident, the military said.
Since October 7, high tensions in the West Bank have seen troops arrested some 5,250 wanted Palestinians, 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 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.
