Soldier suspected of looting Palestinian property near Hebron detained

An Israeli soldier was arrested on Tuesday on suspicions of having looted Palestinian property during a raid in the West Bank, the military said.

The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that the arrest was made during a Military Police investigation of looting from Palestinian homes by soldiers in the Hebron area.

The soldier was ordered to remain in jail until Monday, and his identity was barred from publication, at the request of his defense attorney.

Israeli security forces have stepped up their operations in the West Bank, following a deadly wave of terror attacks that left 19 people dead between mid-March and the beginning of May. During raids across the West Bank overnight, security forces arrested 24 wanted Palestinians, the IDF said Wednesday morning.

While rare, there have been several publicized incidents of looting in the Israeli army in recent years.

In 2018, two IDF soldiers were indicted for allegedly stealing money from Palestinians at a checkpoint north of Jerusalem, and in 2015 three soldiers were indicted for looting from the homes of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip during the 2014 war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group.