Night of West Bank violence followed shooting attack on three Israelis

Violent clashes broke out in the Palestinian town of Beita when the IDF entered to search the town for the suspects in the Tapuach junction shooting. Violent clashes broke out in which Palestinians threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at troops, who responded with riot dispersal means and live fire and several Palestinians were injured.

Separately, according to a report from the left-wing NGO Yesh Din, Jewish extremists, presumed to be settlers, attacked the Palestinian village of Jalud.

The IDF beefed up its forces in the West Bank and according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, Israeli security forces arrested 19 Palestinians overnight, including in east Jerusalem.

Yesh Din alleged that the Jewish extremists threw stones at Palestinians and their homes in Jalud, vandalized vehicles and chased a four-year-old Palestinian boy who was in the yard of his home. They also set fire to the fields around the village and these were only extinguished in the morning.

“According to testimonies, Palestinians called military forces for help but when they arrived, they fired tear gas and rubber bullets at residents’ homes and towards the Palestinians present,” Yesh Din said. Four Jalud residents were injured, according to the local village council.

The IDF said it responded to reports of friction between settlers and Palestinians near Jalud. It confirmed that both settlers and Palestinians had thrown stones at each another and that fires had been set in several areas. 

Ten of the Palestinians arrested overnight were connected to the violence in Jalud, according to WAFA.

Yesh Din executive director Lior Amihai said, “Last night, we witnessed a revenge pogrom by violent settlers that was made possible only because the apartheid regime encouraged it. Instead of stopping the Israeli rioters and providing protection to the Palestinians, the army uses the settlers’ violence as a militia whose goal is to inflict constant terror on the Palestinians and take over their lands.”

On Monday morning, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi visited the scene and held a situational assessment with senior officers.

The three 19-year-old victims of the attack, who are students at the Itamar Yeshiva, were taken to Beilinson Hospital.

On Monday, Yehuda Guetta, a Jerusalem resident, was still listed in critical condition with a head wound. Benaya Peretz of Beit She’an, remained in very serious condition with a back wound. The third victim, 19-year-old Amichai Hala from Safed, was lightly wounded and was discharged from the hospital.

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan called to hold the Palestinian Authority accountable for the attack.