Just 1 suspect still in custody over attacks on Palestinian villages that involved dozens

Three of the four Israeli suspects who were arrested over yesterday’s attack by dozens of settlers on two Palestinian villages in the West Bank have been released from police custody.

IDF officials criticize police for the fact that only one of the alleged attackers who were detained by troops remains held.

Perpetrators of settler attacks on Palestinians are rarely prosecuted.

Yesterday, the IDF dispatched troops to Bayt Lid and Dayr Sharaf following reports of dozens of masked Israelis attacking Palestinians in the villages and setting fire to property. The troops detained the four suspects there and handed them over to the police.

Military officials say that the IDF lacks the proper tools to handle the increasing number of extremist, violent settlers in the West Bank and the rise in attacks against Palestinians, especially since Defense Minister Israel Katz stopped the use of administrative detentions against Israelis earlier this year.

The chief of the Central Command has the authority to sign “restraining orders” against such suspects, barring them from being in the West Bank, as well as house arrest orders for residents of settlements.

Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth recently signed 30 such orders and plans to increase their use; however, military officials say that the IDF needs additional powers to address the issue.

There has been a rise in settler violence this year, especially coinciding with the annual olive harvest, which began in October.

During October, the IDF recorded 86 incidents of “nationalistic crime,” compared with 25 in the same period last year.

And since the beginning of the year, 704 incidents of “nationalistic crime” have been recorded by Israeli defense authorities, compared with 675 in all of 2024.