Terrorism of the extremist settlers targeting the Palestinians in the West Bank, the soldiers who usually protected them, attacked them in an incident that sparked an unusual anger against them, to the extent of demanding their arrest and punishment, which were not heard a few days ago when the settlers carried out a widespread attack on the village of Kafr Malik in Ramallah, which led to the death of 3, and the burning of homes and cars.
Settlers attacked Israeli officers and soldiers on Friday night – near the village of Kafr Malik in the Ramallah area, beating and stones, wounding a number of soldiers, in the confrontation that also witnessed an attempt to run over a policeman and piercing the security cars tires.
The Israeli army and the police confirmed the incident in which forces from the border guards intervened, which used live ammunition to disperse the attackers, and arrested a number of them.
The newspaper “Yediot Aharonot”, the two channels 12 and 13, and other Israeli media, said that members of the army and police clashed with about 40 settlers who arrived in the village of Kafr Malik in Ramallah, days after the violent incident there, in which Palestinians were killed.
Senior army officers told channel 13 that what happened represents “a transgression of red lines.” They added: “A violent work that also included sabotage of vehicles, an attempt to run over the fighters, and so on. This violence against the security forces, which operates day and night to guard and protect the residents of the area is dangerous. This is happening during the second time, for the second time in the last days in the Palestinian village of Kafr Malik.
The confrontation began when the Israeli soldiers arrived to disperse a gathering of the settlers, who came from a new outpost that was recently established in the area, near the village of Kafr Malik, and in response, the settlers began to threw the forces with stones, hit and strangle them.
Soldiers from the reserve battalion who came from the Gaza Strip said that they were attacked by settlers, which included beating, strangling and throwing stones. Among the soldiers who were assaulted was the commander of the battalion himself. In addition, the settlers performed the tires of the security forces vehicles.
The settlers claimed that the confrontation erupted after the battalion commander got out of his vehicle, and began shooting in the air, screaming and threatening them. The army explained that 3 warning shots were launched in the air, after the incident was “out of control.
In the shots published by the settlers, the soldiers are heard that they command them to raise their hands and lie on the ground. In one of the clips, the settlers are heard that the soldiers are strongly scolded and mocking them, before one of the soldiers responded: “Shut up! How much destruction you have caused here in the past two days. ”
While the Minister of Defense, Yisrael Katz, condemned the incident, and called for law enforcement authorities to move immediately to find anyone who resorted to violence, and to bring him to justice, appealing to rabbis and settlement leaders to condemn the violence and strongly rejected them, the Israeli army pledged that he would “firmly to harm the security forces”, and would prevent “any illegal activity.”
Katz refused to attack the soldiers who “protect” the settlers from the Palestinians.
The incident came just two days after a massive attack by the settlers in the village of Kafr Malik itself, and killed 3 Palestinians and burned homes and vehicles.
More than 100 settlers participated in the attack, according to the human rights organization “Yish Din”, which said that violence took place under the attention of the Israeli soldiers who also joined the attack and shot the Palestinians in the village.
Today, the village lives the pain of the loss of 3 of its sons, and the memories of a terrifying night in which homes and cars were burned.
The pace of Jewish attacks on the Palestinians in the West Bank increased, and they were repeated in all parts almost daily and without punishment.
The administration of former US President Joe Biden tried to address the violence of settlers, by imposing increasing sanctions against them and against their leaders and those who support them in the government, but the current US President Donald Trump canceled US sanctions on his first day in his post early this year.
However, European governments have kept these sanctions, and earlier this month, Britain took an unprecedented step by imposing sanctions on the right -wing extremist ministers, in Salail Smotrich and Etamar bin Ghafir, stressing that they were providing support for settlers’ attacks.
During the last May, settlers committed 415 attacks in the West Bank, according to the data of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority (government).
The commission said that the attacks “ranged between armed attacks on Palestinian villages, imposing facts on the ground, field executions, sabotage and land bulldozing, uprooting trees, seizing property, closures, and barriers that cut the bonds of Palestinian geography.”
“The violence practiced by settlers in the West Bank continues and increases blood day after day under the auspices of the government and with the support of the army. This is the form of ethnic cleansing. ”
In addition to Katz and the army, the opposition leader, Yair Labid, commented on the incident, saying: “The extremists who attack the Israeli army soldiers who protect the security of the State of Israel in these difficult days are dangerous criminals who help our enemies. The security forces must provide the perpetrators to justice. ”
The head of the “Democratic Party”, Yair Golan, wrote that rioters against soldiers also have a foothold around the government table, adding: “The most dangerous existential threat to the State of Israel does not come from Iran or Yemen, but rather comes from within.”
Later, the police recorded an attempt to set fire to a close checkpoint, and monitored average threats.
