Report: IDF received distress calls about armed settler extremists’ threats, but only reacted hours later

An IDF operations room received reports about threats by extremist settlers and distress calls from activists in the West Bank as early as 1 p.m. on Saturday, but nothing was done with this information, and the Civil Administration and troops on the ground were only informed about the attack on diplomats and others around 3 p.m., after it was over, the Haaretz daily reports.

One activist who accompanied local Palestinians is said to have sent the army a video and an exact location, accompanied by the message: “At least seven masked settlers armed with clubs. Come quickly, very scary. They stole bags of olives from Palestinians.”

The report says the military has opened a special probe to examine the chain of events and why nothing was done in real time to prevent the violence.