Several settlers detained for rioting and attacking Palestinians in West Bank, IDF says

By Emanuel Fabian

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4 December 2024, 10:28 am

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Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

A home burned by rioting settlers in the West Bank village of Huwara, on December 4, 2024. (Courtesy Huwara residents via Yesh Din)

Several Israeli settlers were detained by troops for rioting and attacking Palestinians in the northern West Bank overnight and this morning, the military says.

The Kan public broadcaster reports that six people were detained. It is unclear if they are still being held.

Members of the Civil Administration and Border Police operated overnight to demolish illegal settler outpost construction near the Palestinian village of Beit Furik, close to Nablus. The illegal outpost construction was on private Palestinian land.

During the evacuation of the outpost, the IDF says, stones were hurled 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.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Rujeib, another Palestinian village in the Nablus area, some 20 settlers gathered, the IDF says, apparently in preparation for another attack.

When IDF soldiers and Border Police troops arrived, the settlers clashed with the forces, the military says.

The IDF says “the incidents were dispersed and a number of Israelis were arrested” and handed over to police for further questioning.

“The IDF views any violence against its troops and members of the security forces, who work day and night for the security of the citizens of the area, very gravely,” the military says, adding that “these incidents must be condemned and those who break the law must be prosecuted.”

Prosecution in such cases is particularly rare, leading several Western countries to begin sanctioning Israeli extremists destabilizing the West Bank at the beginning of the year.