The IDF said Wednesday that about 100 settlers took part in violent riots near the West Bank city of Tulkarm a day earlier — an unusually large number for such incidents. The rioters attacked Palestinians, wounding four, vandalized property and set several vehicles on fire, according to the military.
Troops detained three suspects for questioning, while the rest fled to the industrial zone near the settlement of Kedumim, the military said. When soldiers arrived there to arrest them, the rioters began attacking the troops.
Settlers riot near Tulkarm
During the clashes, some rioters reached the jeep of the deputy commander of the Paratroopers’ 101st Battalion and punctured its tires, the IDF said. It initially reported six arrests, but when police arrived to collect the detainees, only four were in custody. Two others had escaped amid the chaos.
Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, head of the IDF Central Command, condemned the violence during a briefing with field commanders. “The reality in which an anarchist fringe of youth acts violently against innocents and against security forces is intolerable and extremely serious,” he said. “This phenomenon must be addressed with a firm hand, through coordination among all state systems — education, welfare, law enforcement and punishment.”
Bluth said soldiers had been instructed not to stand by during such incidents. “We will not accept a situation in which lawbreakers harm property and innocents, destabilize Judea and Samaria, and divert the army’s focus from defense and counterterrorism,” he said, using the biblical term for the West Bank.
He added that the violence “harms the settlement movement and harms the State of Israel,” saying it forces troops who had been fighting enemies on multiple fronts to divert resources to deal with Jewish extremists.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz did not condemn the riots near Tulkarm.