YITZHAR - Residents of the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar stoned Palestinian villagers, and later also stoned army and police forces and slashed tires.
Friday afternoon, a group of about 20 settlers arrived at a Palestinian village south of the town of Nablus and began stoning local residents.
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No one was hurt in the incident but several Palestinian homes were damaged.
IDF and police forces arrived at the scene and dispersed the settlers. Some settlers were apparently intoxicated at the time of the incident in the wake of Purim celebrations.
Following the incident, army and police forces entered Yitzhar in search of the stone throwers. However, the IDF says about 100 settlers promptly began stoning the forces, and even slashed the tires of an IDF jeep.
‘This is despicable behavior’
Some of the attackers were clearly intoxicated and swore at the soldiers, the army said, and added that settlers later blocked the entry gate to the community, preventing soldiers from leaving the scene.
The police, however, failed to detain anyone over the incident. Meanwhile, police and army officials said the affair is not over yet, and pledged to return to the settlement later in order to arrest rioting settlers.
A senior IDF official slammed the settlers conduct.
“This is despicable behavior by law breakers against IDF and police officers and against Palestinians,” he said. “The latest incident comes on the heels of a series of disturbances that have taken place recently.”
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