Less than 24 hours after senior settlement officials distanced themselves from Jewish rioters in the West Bank, Palestinian media reported that in the early hours of Thursday morning extremists set fire to a mosque in the village of Deir Istiya, near Nablus. According to the report, the perpetrators sprayed graffiti on its walls with slogans such as “keep condemning,” and "revenge will come to his enemies,” “Muhammad pig,” and a message directed at the head of the Israel Defense Forces Central Command, Avi Bluth: “We are not afraid of Avi Bluth.”
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Graffiti sprayed on a mosque in the village of Deir Istiya: ''We are not afraid of Avi Bluth'
The condemnations by the heads of regional councils in the West Bank came against the backdrop of a spike in violent attacks and provocations against Palestinians, during which both civilians and IDF soldiers have been attacked by extremist Jewish settlers. For example, the head of the Beit El Council, Shai Alon, told Ynet: “There is no place in the State of Israel for organized criminality, especially not one that cynically exploits the Zionist enterprise. The violence and riots by the hilltop youth rioters are a direct attack on state sovereignty and our most basic moral values.”
Jewish extremists set fire to vehicles in the Palestinian village of Beit Lid
Alon further stated: “In their criminal acts, the rioters tarnish the settlement enterprise, undermine the authority of the security forces and create unacceptable chaos. We demand zero tolerance for any violation of the law. Whoever commits hate crimes is a dangerous criminal. It is the duty of the law enforcement, justice and security systems to deal with them with full force and maximum penalties, without hesitation or leniency.”
Just two days ago, about 100 hooded extremists participated in riots near the village of Beit Lid, east of Tulkarm, where they set vehicles on fire and injured four Palestinians. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, four trucks from the “Al‑Junaidi” dairy factory were burnt, and the factory itself suffered damage, among other damage. During their retreat the hooded rioters also attacked IDF soldiers and vandalized a military jeep.
According to the IDF, despite the unusually large number of rioters only three were detained for questioning; the rest fled into the nearby Barkan industrial zone. There the rioters began attacking soldiers trying to arrest them. In the ensuing clashes, remainers punctured the tires of a jeep belonging to the deputy commander of the 101st Paratrooper Battalion.
Bluth, commander of Central Command, said in a briefing with commanders in the area: “It is by miracle that we have no fatalities. The reality in which anarchist marginal youth act violently against innocent civilians and security forces is intolerable and extremely serious, and must be met with a firm hand. Dealing with this phenomenon requires the integration of all systems of the State of Israel – education, welfare, enforcement and punishment.”