The IDF and Shin Bet on Monday said they arrested two men, residents of the illegal West Bank outpost Givat Ronen, on suspicion that they attacked four Bedouin women and a small child, who entered the settlement.
The women from the Bedouin city of Rahat were attacked on Friday when they attempted to reach Nablus and took a wrong turn. The suspects are extreme-right activists who were suspected of carrying out violent attacks in the past and are known to security authorities.
They were approached by the suspects and others who according to the police allegedly threw stones and them, threatened them with guns and set their car on fire.
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A Bedouin woman and her young child after being attacked by West Bank settlers on Friday
(Photo: Lior Sharon)
The women managed to reach soldiers who were in the area and were taken to hospital, suffering injuries, some to the head and some to the arms.
"They threw stones and blocks and broke the car windows and asked us if we were from the West Bank or Gaza," one of the women told Ynet. "They sprayed us with tear gas and pointed guns at us and said they would kill us. We were sure we were going to die," she said.
The Givat Ronen outpost said the women were approached by a security team because of the security tension in the West Bank and to ensure that they were not involved in terrorism. They claimed the car came under attack from stone-throwing youth and that their car was set aflame when the women were no longer in it.
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Setters at illegal West Bank outpost Givat Ronen clash with security forces in 2022
(Photo: Police)
Far-right lawmakers from the Otzma Yehudith Party, led by Itamar Ben-Gvir, said the settlers were not at fault. Limor Son Har-Melech said the women could have been spies passing information on to terrorists and the settlers were only protecting their home. She said the women were driving a car that did not have Israeli license plates, a claim that was refuted.
Radwan al Jawar, the husband of one of the women said Son Har-Melech should apologize. "We were in the South during the October 7 massacre and we protected and saved people there, at risk to our own lives."
The Al-Ja'ar family said in a statement that the lawmaker was lying. "It's clear she is trying to twist things, but it has become evident that this attack was racially motivated and the racists who committed the assault should be arrested."