Settlers storm into Palestinian homes to ‘conduct searches,’ at least 1 of them armed
Police deny receiving complaint; IDF says it was aiding in hunt for stolen property near West Bank’s Hebron, declines to comment on presence of civilians, one bearing assault rifle
Armed settlers stormed into Palestinian homes in a village near the West Bank city of Hebron Tuesday morning and searched them as IDF soldiers looked on, according to video footage circulated online.
In a video published by the Yesh Din human rights group said to be in an unnamed Bedouin village near Hebron, a group of settlers, one of whom was carrying an assault rifle, can be seen walking from home to home searching their meager belongings and shouting at the inhabitants.
One of the settlers can be seen kicking a hole in the door of a cabinet inside one of the homes. A child can be heard crying in the background.
No uniformed IDF soldiers can be seen in that video, although Yesh Din claimed that several arrived later. Private Israeli citizens are not legally able to purchase assault rifles.
In a separate video shared by the Breaking the Silence organization said to be in a nearby village, IDF soldiers can be seen accompanying the settlers conducting searches.
Asked to comment, the Israel Police said in a statement that the incident had been “managed entirely by the military.” The police said that no complaint had been filed, although some Israeli activists said they had called the police during the searches.
In response to a request for comment from The Times of Israel, the IDF said it had received a report Monday evening of property stolen from Israeli citizens by Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills area. The IDF said its forces conducted a search in the area in coordination with the Israel Police.
צילום: תושבי מעייר אל עביד pic.twitter.com/WQZZjJcy1x
— Ori Givati (@origivati) July 25, 2023
The IDF did not immediately respond to questions about the involvement of settlers in the incident nor the status of the assault rifle seen carried by a civilian.
Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi slammed the settlers “accompanied by occupation forces and acting like the rulers, entering homes with shouting and violence,” he said in a statement.
“All of this in an area which is under threat of eviction and destruction. Only in an unreasonable reality of prolonged occupation would this be called a democracy,” he added, a reference to the recently passed “reasonableness law” restricting judicial oversight.
Unchecked settler violence in Palestinian towns has soared in recent months, including two separate rampages in Huwara that caused heavy damage and the death of a Palestinian man in unclear circumstances, following terror attacks in, and emanating from, the Palestinian town.
The government has pledged to hold those behind the settler rampages accountable. Two suspects have since been charged in the rioting, and eight Israelis have been held under administrative detention for their involvement. Hundreds were filmed taking part in the attacks.
ובינתיים במקום שהצמיח את ההפיכה: לאור יום ובפנים גלויות, כנופיית מתנחלים חודרת למשפחה פלסטינית הביתה. אחד מהם חמוש רובה מאבטח את הכניסה, והם? עושים בבית כטוב בעיניהם. מחריד. pic.twitter.com/OIrq1WMDUf
— ישראל פריי (@freyisrael1) July 25, 2023
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has denounced such attacks, and has sparred repeatedly with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir — a longtime settler activist with a history of extremist crimes — over the issue.
According to a report over the weekend, Ben Gvir refused to send a senior police commander to a planned discussion on settler violence in the West Bank and denounced the meeting.
Ben Gvir has a long record of arrests and convictions for far-right activity, including incitement and support of a terror group. He was considered such a security risk as a teenager that the IDF refused to allow him to enlist in the military.
Earlier this month, four Palestinians were wounded in an attack by Israeli settlers in the northern West Bank, according to Palestinian medical officials and an Israeli rights group. Two Israelis were also reported wounded in the incident.
The official PA news agency, Wafa, and the Yesh Din rights group reported that the incident occurred in the hamlet of Arab al-Khouli, east of Kafr Thulth, and close to the Israeli settlement of Maaleh Shomron.
According to Yesh Din, the settlers set fire to a number of tents in the hamlet and assaulted residents. It claimed that a herd of goats was also stolen by the settlers, and that police and the IDF were on the scene but did not intervene.
Since the beginning of this year, Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank have killed 25 people.
According to a tally by The Times of Israel, 158 West Bank Palestinians have been killed during that time — most of them during clashes with security forces or while carrying out attacks, but some were uninvolved civilians and others were killed under unclear circumstances.
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
