Police arrest third Israeli suspect, a teen, over arson attack in northern West Bank
17-year-old was on the run for a month after escaping from troops who detained him amid large-scale assault on Palestinians in November; another suspect was detained earlier this week
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Police arrested a 17-year-old on Wednesday night, suspected of taking part in an attack by extremist settlers targeting Palestinians and their property in the northern West Bank, a month after he managed to slip away from detention.
The Jerusalem resident, whose name was not released for publication due to his age, is the third person to be arrested in connection with the destructive rampage last month.
He is thought to be one of dozens of masked Jewish extremists who launched a large-scale arson attack in the Palestinian town of Beit Lid on November 11, setting fire to cars, destroying buildings and beating Palestinian residents with clubs and stones.
The attack left several people with serious injuries, including skull fractures.
IDF soldiers who arrived on the scene detained three individuals, including the teen. But he and an accomplice managed to escape before authorities could take them into custody, police said.
Police put out an arrest warrant for the suspect shortly after the rampage. He had been on the run for a month before officers spotted him driving in the West Bank and detained him.
A special police task force in the West Bank District, established in November to combat Jewish nationalist violence, had been conducting an “intensive investigation” to track down the suspect, police said.
On Monday, law enforcement arrested the other suspect who had successfully fled troops. He was ordered to remain in custody until at least Thursday.
Another suspect, who was taken into custody on the day of the attack, was indicted on terror charges last month in a rare move by prosecutors.
The unnamed minor was charged in the Central District Juvenile Court with arson, aggravated sabotage, malicious damage and intentional sabotage of a vehicle. Prosecutors requested he remain in detention until the end of legal proceedings.
The investigation into the rampage and its perpetrators is ongoing, police said.
On Tuesday night, Israeli settlers allegedly torched a vehicle and sprayed graffiti in the village of Ein Yabrud, northeast of Ramallah, according to Palestinian media.
Settler attacks against Palestinians have been escalating in recent months, especially coinciding with the annual olive harvest, which began in October. In that time, settlers, and sometimes soldiers, have carried out near-daily violence against olive pickers, as well as Palestinians and their property in general.
Amid rising condemnation of settler violence from both Israeli politicians and foreign statesmen in November, security agencies began to intensify their efforts to crack down on the attacks.
Prosecutions of Jewish extremists remain rare, however, and convictions are even rarer. Critics have accused the right-wing government of shrugging off Jewish nationalist violence.
The IDF has recorded more than 752 incidents of Jewish nationalistic crime and settler violence since the start of the year. The total for 2024 was 675 incidents.
Violence has soared in the West Bank since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, nearly 1,000 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, 63 civilians and Israeli security personnel have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes during raids in Palestinian cities in the West Bank.
The Times of Israel Community.