IDF soldiers of the Golani Brigade train for scenarios involving enemies similar to Hezbollah.. (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
Police arrested one suspect after the commander of Golani Brigade’s Reconnaissance Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel Ayoub Kayuf, was attacked by right-wing extremists in the settlement of Yitzhar in the West Bank on Friday, Israeli media sources reported Saturday evening.
According to Kan, the recent tension between settlers and IDF security forces in the area started last Wednesday when Golani infantry soldiers arrived near the settlement due to violent clashes between settlers and local Palestinians during a Palestinian olive harvest. According to Rabbis for Human Rights, five of the NGO’s volunteers were attacked by settlers while participating in the annual harvest in the villages Burin and Hawareh.
80-year-old Rabbi Moshe Yehudai, alongside four other volunteers, was reportedly attacked by a group of over 30 settlers armed with crowbars. Yehudai was evacuated by a Palestinian ambulance with a broken arm. A resident of Yitzhar was arrested for allegedly participating in the attack, but was released from custody. The suspect claimed that he was “attacked” by an officer during his interrogation.
Last Friday, a military vehicle was blocked by several settlers near the entrance to Yitzhar. According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, “one of the settlers opened the door of the vehicle, threatening those inside it.” The unit commander reportedly confronted the settlers, one of which allegedly attacked him. The IDF condemned the incident, while the settlers denied attacking the commander, saying the incident was “purely verbal” and that the alleged attacker “did not know it was a battalion commander.” The settlers condemned the IDF for arresting the suspect Friday night, during the Sabbath.
Yitzhar is a settlement often associated with nationalism and religious extremism. Its residents have participated in several attacks against Palestinians, causing damage to property, and have attacked IDF soldiers in the past. In 2006, a group of the settlement’s residents was arrested for reportedly firing several hand-made Qassam rockets into the neighboring Palestinian villages.
Shaked Hendler, an IDF soldier, was hospitalized five months ago after being stoned by settlers at the Tapuach Junction near Yitzhar. Hendler, who served in the Border Police, was sent in July to accompany an inspector from the Israeli Civil Administration – the body that controls West Bank’s Area C which is under Israeli military control.
According to Kan, a group of settlers attacked the convoy with rocks, hitting Hendler in the head, injuring her and making her fall to the ground. “The mission was completed as usual,” Hendler recalled, saying that “regardless of whether we are going in [the settlement] or not, [the settlers] always try to cause friction. We obviously try to prevent that. We don’t answer.”
“In that situation, though, they walked away and came back within a few minutes,” She said. “A larger group of people in balaclavas. We weren’t ready for that because we didn’t think that could happen. The SUVs were in the entrance [to the settlement], and we weren’t equipped.” When trying to enter the vehicle, Hendler was hit.
“I arrived at the hospital, [where the nurses] stitched-up my head right away,” she recalled. “I had an [internal] bleeding and a [skull] fracture.” Due to her injury, Hendler was discharged from military service. “You come ready to Palestinian riots, but when it comes from your people, and [the hostility] is not mutual, it is hard.”
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