‘We failed’: IDF probe finds troops didn’t act sufficiently to prevent deadly settler rampage

An IDF investigation into a deadly terror attack carried out by some 100 Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Jit earlier this month has found that troops who arrived first at the scene did not act as expected to stop the assailants.

The IDF has also dismissed two members of a nearby settlement’s local security force for acting “outside the scope of their authority” during the incident.

According to the military’s probe, the IDF received an alert from the Shin Bet in the evening of August 15 about a group of Israelis in vehicles heading to carry out a “nationalistic crime” in the Yitzhar area.

A large number of troops and Border Police officers were dispatched to the area, in an attempt to prevent an attack from happening, the probe finds.

At around 8 p.m., a group of 100 masked Israeli settlers entered Jit and set fire to three cars and two buildings, as well as hurling Molotov cocktails and stones.

At 8:06 p.m., the commander of the regional brigade declared that an incident had begun, and troops were dispatched to the village. Within six more minutes, the troops arrived at Jit.

“The investigation revealed that the first force was unable to fully understand the situation. It tried to disperse the rioters and prevent harm to the Palestinians, but it should have acted with greater determination,” the IDF says.

Minutes later, according to the probe, additional troops and Border Police officers arrived at the scene, and they “acted assertively while risking their lives, blocking the rioters and pushing them out of the village, while using riot dispersal means and live fire in the air.”

Half an hour after the incident began, all of the Israeli settlers were taken out of the village, the probe found.

The IDF says that troops rescued and aided Palestinian families, including women and children, during the incident. Troops helped Palestinians escape from burning homes and provided them with first aid.

The probe has also found that Border Police officers stationed in the area prevented additional assailants from joining in the attack.

One Palestinian man was killed and another was wounded by gunfire in the incident. The Shin Bet and police have indicated that the shooting was carried out by the settlers.

Additionally, the IDF says that several members of a civilian local security team for a nearby settlement, who are not in active reserve duty, arrived at Jit at the start of the incident in military uniform. The probe found that the security officers “acted outside the scope of authority defined for” the local security team, without elaborating further on what they did.

Two were dismissed from their role, and their weapons were confiscated.

No suspects were detained amid the incident, but last week the police and Shin Bet arrested four, including a minor.

The three adult suspects were sent to administrative detention — which enables Israel to hold suspects indefinitely without bringing charges against them — amid the investigation. They are suspected of terrorism, police have said.

Additional arrests are planned, the IDF says.

The head of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, says: “This is a very serious terror incident by Israelis who deliberately set out to harm the residents of the village of Jit, and we failed by not being able to arrive sooner to protect them.”

“The responsibility is first of all mine as the head of the system and I will do everything to improve it,” Bluth says in remarks published by the IDF. He also hails the troops who later arrived at the village and rescued Palestinians who were trapped inside burning homes. “This event is still in progress and it will not be closed until we have brought the rioters to justice,” Bluth adds.