West Bank settlers turn on Israeli military after attacking Palestinians

Israelis from West Bank settlements have attacked Israel’s troops and vandalised military sites, after the IDF took measures to combat assaults on Palestinians.

Israelis from West Bank settlements have attacked Israel’s troops and vandalised military sites in the occupied territory in recent days, after the country’s military took measures to combat assaults on Palestinians.

On Sunday night, a demonstration outside a military installation in the West Bank turned violent with some Israeli civilians attacking security forces, including with pepper spray, the Israeli military said. They also damaged military vehicles and set fire to an electronic installation the army said was used to maintain security in the area.

Video from the scene showed demonstrators holding signs calling a local military commander “a traitor.” This followed an incident on Friday where Israeli troops enforcing a closed military zone outside a recently attacked Palestinian village were ambushed by dozens of Israeli civilians who hurled stones and physically assaulted them, including the battalion commander, according to the military. During the altercation, a teenager among the group attacking the Israeli troops was injured.

The incidents highlight the lack of law and order that has pervaded the West Bank in recent years, as Israelis associated with settlements have frequently attacked Palestinians, often without consequences, and sometimes clashed with Israeli security forces.

The Israeli attackers on Sunday spray-painted “revenge” on the military site, something they often scrawl when committing attacks against Palestinians.

Israel’s government includes far-right lawmakers and ministers who often express sympathy for Israelis who attack Palestinians, but the recent attacks on Israeli security forces received broad condemnation, including from the far right.

“Attacking the security forces, security facilities, and Israeli soldiers who are our brothers, our protectors, is a red line, and must be dealt with the utmost severity,” Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right minister for national security, wrote on X.

The recent attacks on Palestinian villages went uncondemned by senior Israeli figures.

These include an attack Wednesday night by dozens of Israeli civilians in the village of Kafr Malik, located in the southern West Bank near Ramallah, according to Israeli, Palestinian and United Nations officials.

The Israeli attackers set fire to property in the village, according to Israeli and Palestinian authorities. When an altercation broke out, the army intervened and opened fire on Palestinians who threw stones and shot at troops, according to the military.

Three Palestinians were killed during the incident, according to the U.N. Israel’s military said it detained five Israeli suspects.

Palestinians and rights groups have long complained that Israelis have been able to carry out attacks on Palestinians and that they haven’t had protection from the Israeli military, whose soldiers are sometimes present during the attacks.

Many areas of the West Bank are off-limits to Palestinian security forces, and Israel’s military is charged with protecting civilians there.

Israeli military officials say they try to prevent attacks against Palestinians but are constrained by a lack of resources.

Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians and most of the world say the territory is occupied by Israel and Israeli settlements there are illegal. Israel considers the West Bank to be disputed territory and most of the settlements to be legal.

Dow Jones