Israelis Set a Palestinian Village Ablaze in West Bank Attack – The New York Times
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Israeli settlers rampage at military base in the West Bank
More than 100 settlers set fire to property in the West Bank town of Kfar Malik. Israel’s prime minister has called for an end to the violence in the area. The West Bank is home to some three million Palestinians and 500,000 Israeli settlers. The Israeli military says it is working with the Palestinian Authority to find a solution to the conflict. The U.S. State Department said it was working with Israel on a plan to end the violence, but did not give a timeline for the end of the violence. Israel’s prime minister said the violence was the work of ‘extremists’ who were ‘out of control’ and should not be tolerated.
More than 100 settlers on Wednesday evening entered the West Bank town of Kfar Malik, setting property ablaze and opening fire on Palestinians who tried to stop them, Najeb Rostom, head of the local council, said.
Three Palestinians were killed after the military intervened.
Israeli security forces arrested five settlers.
“No civilised country can tolerate violent and anarchic acts of burning a military facility, damaging IDF property and attacking security personnel by citizens of the country,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Footage on Israeli media showed dozens of young, religious men typically associated with “hilltop youth”, an extremist movement of Israeli settlers who occupy West Bank hilltops and have been accused of attacking Palestinians and their property.
The footage showed security forces using stun grenades as dozens of settlers gathered around the military base just north of Ramallah.
The Israeli military released photos of the infrastructure burned in the attack, which it said included “systems that help thwart terrorist attacks and maintain security”.
Far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has often defended Israelis accused of similar crimes, offered a rare condemnation of Sunday’s violence.
“Attacking security forces, security facilities, and IDF soldiers who are our brothers, our protectors, is a red line, and must be dealt with in full severity. We are brothers,” he wrote on X.
Palestinians gather around a crater caused by an Israeli strike on a displacement tent camp in Gaza city (Jehad Alshrafi/AP)
Opposition leader Yair Lapid told Israel’s Army radio that the riots were carried out by “Jewish terrorists, gangs of criminals, who feel backed by the (governing) coalition”.
A hard-line supporter of Jewish settlements, Mr Ben-Gvir was previously convicted in Israel of racist incitement and support for terrorist groups, and has called for the deportation of all Arab citizens from Israel.
Though once widely shunned by Israel’s politicians, Mr Ben-Gvir’s influence has grown and alongside a shift to the right in the country’s electorate has further emboldened violence from extremist settlers in the West Bank.
Defence minister Israel Katz vowed on Monday to “eradicate this violence from the root” and implored the extremist settlers to remember that many of the security forces are exhausted reservists serving multiple rounds of duty.
Over the past two years of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Palestinian residents in the West Bank have reported a major increase in Israeli checkpoints and delays across the territory.
Israel, meanwhile, says threats from the West Bank against its citizens are on the rise.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and Palestinians want all three territories for their future state.
The West Bank is home to some three million Palestinians live under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule, and 500,000 Jewish settlers.
The international community overwhelmingly considers settlements illegal.
Settlers set IDF security facility ablaze as scrutiny over settler violence in the West Bank mounts
Dozens of Jewish settlers rioted outside of a multi-million dollar security facility in the West Bank Sunday night and set it ablaze. The violence comes after six settlers were arrested overnight Friday for assaulting a group of IDF reservists near the Palestinian village of Kafr Malik. The rioters were protesting the use of warning shots against settlers who committed the ambush Friday, which apparently resulted in the injury of a teenager. The IDF denied that they had fired live ammunition at the settlers, writing in a statement that “an initial investigation indicates that IDF forces did not fire live ammunition. at Israeli civilians in the area.” But settler groups have claimed this is false, posting a video of shell casings on the ground at the site of the attack. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz convened an urgent meeting about the settler violence against Israeli security forces Monday.
Dozens of Jewish settlers rioted outside of a multi-million dollar security facility in the West Bank Sunday night and set it ablaze in a continuation of far-right settler protests against the IDF in recent days.
The violence comes after six settlers were arrested overnight Friday for assaulting a group of IDF reservists near the Palestinian village of Kafr Malik. The rioters Sunday were protesting the use of warning shots against settlers who committed the ambush Friday, which apparently resulted in the injury of a teenager.
The IDF denied that they had fired live ammunition at the settlers, writing in a statement that “an initial investigation indicates that IDF forces did not fire live ammunition at Israeli civilians in the area.” But settler groups have claimed this is false, posting a video of shell casings on the ground at the site of the attack.
The escalation of rioting by Israeli settlers comes after a violent attack Wednesday by armed Israeli settlers on two Palestinian villages in the West Bank. Three Palestinians were killed by IDF fire and two homes were set ablaze, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Israeli security forces arrested five settlers over the spree of violence.
Critics of extremist settlers and of the government in recent months have said that attacks by Jews on Palestinians living in the West Bank invariably go unpunished, and have intensified with attention focused on the war in Gaza. Opposition politicians regularly condemn government officials for doing too little to rein in settler violence.
In attacking soldiers, however, there was agreement at the top that the settlers had crossed a line.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz convened an urgent meeting about the settler violence against Israeli security forces Monday.
“This phenomenon must be immediately put to an end. We will take all necessary measures and uproot this violence from its roots — no one will dare raise their hand against IDF soldiers or security forces,” said Katz in a statement according to the Jerusalem Post.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also condemned the recent attacks by Jewish extremist settlers against IDF soldiers.
“No civilized country can tolerate violent and anarchic acts such as the burning of a military installation, damage to IDF property, and assaults on security personnel by citizens of the state,” said Netanyahu in a statement.
“The settler community is a model and an example of developing the land, meaningful service in the IDF, and contributing to the cultivation of Torah scholars. We will not allow a violent and fanatic few to tarnish an entire community,” continued Netanyahu.
“I strongly condemn the violence against the IDF and security forces,” wrote Sa’ar in a post on X early Monday. “Such incidents are unacceptable, and the offenders must be severely punished. The IDF and security forces work day and night to protect Israel’s citizens and security. They must be supported, their activities must not be disrupted, and under no circumstances should any of them be attacked.”
But Yair Golan, the leader of the Democrats party, rejected the portrayal of the settlers as a fringe minority, writing in a post on X Monday that they are a “violent arm operating with the government’s legitimacy.”
“Some will continue to call them ‘weeds,’ ‘hilltop youth,’ ‘extremist minority.’ But this is no longer a negligible group. This is an armed and violent arm operating with the government’s legitimacy,” wrote Golan.
“These are Ben-Gvir and Smotrich’s militias, who see the law and the IDF as an unnecessary obstacle on their path to annexation. And they are no longer content with violence against Palestinians, but have long since turned against the IDF and the Zionist, democratic Israel,” the post continued.
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Israeli settlers raid West Bank town, troops kill 3 Palestinians
Dozens of Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian West Bank town on June 25, sparking a confrontation. Three Palestinians were killed and seven wounded in the violence in Kafr Malik, north-east of Ramallah, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Military and police forces were dispatched to the scene after receiving a report of ensuing violence.
Military and police forces were dispatched to the scene after receiving a report of ensuing violence.
– Dozens of Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian West Bank town on June 25, sparking a confrontation that ended with Israeli forces killing three Palestinians, Israel’s military and the Palestinian authorities said.
Three Palestinians were killed and seven wounded in the violence in Kafr Malik, north-east of Ramallah, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
An Israeli military statement said dozens of Israelis set fire to property, and military and police forces were dispatched to the scene after receiving a report of ensuing violence that included an exchange of stone-throwing.
The military statement said several Palestinians opened fire and hurled rocks at the forces, who returned the fire. Five Israeli suspects were arrested. An Israeli army officer was lightly wounded.
Video footage showed at least two cars had been set ablaze. Reuters could not independently verify the video.
Mr Hussein al-Sheikh, the deputy to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, posted on X: “The government of Israel, with its behaviour and decisions, is pushing the region to explode.”
He added: “We call on the international community to intervene urgently to protect our Palestinian people.”
Earlier on June 25, a Palestinian boy was shot dead by the Israeli army during a raid on Al-Yamun, a West Bank town west of Jenin, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. REUTERS