IDF Central Command Chief Condemns Tuesday’s Settler Attacks in West Bank
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by i24 News and Algemeiner Staff
A building and cars burnt in an attack by Israeli settlers. February 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
i24 News — The chief of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, condemned Tuesday’s settler attacks against Palestinians and IDF soldiers in the West Bank on Wednesday morning.
During these attacks, dozens of masked settlers beat Palestinians, burned their property, and clashed with IDF troops near the villages of Deir Sharaf and Beit Lid, leaving multiple injured and causing property damage amid escalating West Bank tensions.
“The reality in which anarchist fringe youth act violently against innocent civilians and against security forces is unacceptable and is extremely serious. It must be dealt with firmly,” Bluth said during a conversation with commanders in the sector.
In October, 86 “nationalist crime incidents” were recorded in Judea and Samaria, a sharp increase compared to the previous olive harvest when 25 nationalist crime incidents were recorded, according to a report released Wednesday by the IDF.
Bluth added that dealing with the situation properly would require the combined efforts “of all branches of the State of Israel: education, welfare, law enforcement, and disciplinary measures,” referring to the incidents as “severe.”
He then directed that IDF soldiers “not stand idly by and do everything in your power to prevent any act of nationalist crime,” adding that this response is in full cooperation with the Israeli Police and the ISA. “This is the only way we can eradicate the phenomenon,” he said to the commanders.
He also noted that these incidents drain significant “attention and resources, which are being diverted to dealing with these anarchist individuals who take the law into their own hands.”
These resources are then taken away from counterterrorism operations and other security and defense tasks in the region, he continued, stating that “this violence harms Israeli communities and the State of Israel.”
“We will not accept a situation in which lawbreakers harm property and innocent civilians, undermine stability in Judea and Samaria, and divert the IDF’s focus away from its mission of security and counterterrorism,” said the chief of command.
