On Wednesday, IDF Central Commander Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth called the attack by around 100 Jewish extremists on the Palestinian West Bank village of Jit on August 15 the worst Jewish terror event ever.
In issuing his probe of the event, which resulted in the burning of numerous homes and cars, the death of one Palestinian, and attacks on others, Bluth said that he and all those involved from Israel, including the IDF, failed to properly defend the Palestinian village properly.
The military said that the investigation revealed there had been a regional warning before the attack when the Shin Bet noticed that extremists were gathering in cars and that this warning led the security forces to deploy around main junctions and routes.
However, at this stage, the IDF did not block the entrance to Jit. The probe does not provide an explanation, but it conveys the importance of learning lessons for the future.
Sources told The Jerusalem Post that the Shin Bet warning was general and that the agency had not followed the physical movements of the attackers – as it sometimes does – using drones.
Sources also told the Post that the IDF and Shin Bet were surprised because there had been no Palestinian terror event that day. Similar incidents in the past occurred in much closer proximity to a Palestinian terror event as a direct retaliation, they explained.
Finally, sources suggested that the Jewish attackers might have deliberately chosen Jit, a village not previously attacked, to surprise the IDF.
The attackers entered Jit at 8 p.m. The IDF learned of the incident and sounded the alarm to send forces there at 8:06 p.m.
Furthermore, the probe said that during the first stage, when IDF soldiers learned that Jit was under attack, only a small number of them arrived at 8:12 p.m., and they were too passive when trying to disperse the Jewish terrorists.
Moreover, the probe said that the initial IDF forces did not realize the size and severity of the Jewish terror attack. Only at a later stage did the troops block the entrance to Jit, preventing more rioters from entering the village.
When additional IDF forces arrived several minutes later, they started to push and corral the Jewish attackers, including using warning shots in the air and crowd dispersal methods. At this stage, Bluth complimented the soldiers for fighting hard and risking their lives.
In addition, the probe praises the IDF for quickly assisting Palestinians to escape from burning structures and providing them with first aid.
However, at no time did the IDF use live fire on the Jewish attackers, not even firing at their legs when they fled.
No arrests in Jit
The IDF did not make a single arrest that night; an IDF source said it was difficult to do in the black of night when the attackers ran off in different directions. (In contrast, the IDF allows its soldiers to fire at the legs of Palestinian suspects who try to escape.)
Only later did the Shin Bet and police arrest four suspects out of around 100 attackers, and they are currently being investigated.
Three of the suspects are adults; the fourth is a minor.
The detention of the three adults has been extended with a special administrative order, which allows holding them for a longer period even without an indictment. The same process is occasionally used with Palestinian terrorists.
A record number of Palestinian terrorists (since the First Intifada in 1987-1991) have been in administrative detention since October 7. The number exceeded 2,000 already in November 2023.
The probe provided no new information about the attackers or the killing of the Palestinian victim.
It also pointed out that certain reservists and local Jewish private security volunteers came armed and in IDF uniform from another village without having received orders, in violation of their operating area authority, which limits them to certain geographic areas.
Two of these personnel have been expelled from the security volunteers, and their weapons were seized. The probe did not specify exactly what those two individuals did differently from the other security volunteers who arrived.
Bluth vowed that the incident would not be “closed” until “we bring the lawbreakers to justice.”