The IDF has had a mixed record – with only very limited success – in containing and apprehending extremist settler violence carried out against Palestinians this week, following a terrorist attack that killed three people and wounded eight near Kedumim last week, The Jerusalem Post learned on Monday.
Since the attack, which took place last Monday, reports tell of several violent settler attacks on Palestinian villages, along with a UN OCHA report that said around 18 Palestinians have been wounded in the first week of January. Such reports do not necessarily differentiate between fighters and civilians.
One report said dozens of settlers attacked the Palestinian village of Turmus Aiya – not for the first time since the war began. This means that there is less of a basis for the IDF to claim that it was taken by surprise.
Turmus Aiya was also the target of an arson attack in June 2023, in which one person succumbed to wounds sustained during the fires. Several homes were torched, some with people inside who managed to get out.
Sources indicated to the Post that immediately after the attack last week, along with the manhunt for the terrorists who carried it out, the military deployed forces to attempt to anticipate and prevent Jews from attacking Palestinian villages (which are usually not guarded), a phenomenon that has grown since February 2023.
Sources noted that there is only so much that the military can predict, and that, in many instances, the IDF can only respond to settler attacks after the fact.
At that point, the role of the army is to intervene to stop violence from continuing, but any arrests and investigations fall into the responsibility of the Israel Police.
Further, the IDF added that it holds periodic meetings to address the issue on a more systematic level.
Some of the villages that have reported attacks besides Turmus Aiya are Funduq, Immatain, Hajja, Kisan, and Yatma.There were no reports of Palestinian deaths from the attacks, with varied reports on whether the targets were solely property or also persons. There were cases where the IDF said it separated violence by both sides.
Uncertainty around who started violence
There were cases where the IDF said it separated violence by both sides.
The Post could not confirm which side started the violence in the various cases, though it seems clear that at least some of the incidents were initiated by the Israeli attackers.
Although the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and prosecution have arrested and indicted Palestinians in some of the cases where Palestinians were killed by Jews, many other lower levels of violence and property destruction by settlers have not been properly addressed by the law.
Top military and Shin Bet officials accused the police, under National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, of turning a blind eye, with several officials currently being probed by the prosecution for potential obstruction of justice.