Rampage in Jit
Israel Police on Monday rejected accusations that it had failed in its response to the increasing violence of extremist settlers on the West Bank, including a rampage on a Palestinian village last week, burning homes and cars
A Palestinian man was shot dead and another suffered serious injury in the violent attack on Thursday, when a group of nearly 100 settlers descended on the village and began setting fires, hurling stones and fire bombs.
IDF troops arrived at the scene and dispersed the settlers, but the police was not on hand and no arrests were made.
The military said it was conducting a thorough investigation of the event and a full report was to be delivered to the head of the Central Command Major General Avi Bluth. The IDF said the police arrived late and no arrests have been made despite the severity of the settlers' attack.
In response, the police said it rejected the claims and expressed regret over unnamed "senior security officials" attributing blame to the Israel Police adding that officers arrived as quickly as they could when they were informed of the attack but the IDF has overall responsibility as the sovereign of the area that is under military rule.
The police also claimed it had no warning that the settlers were planning to attack the village and no intelligence indicating that could happen.
According to the IDF's timeline, a warning about a general mobilization of settlers near the settlement of Yitzhar was received at 7:23 p.m.; by 8:01 p.m. there were reports of masked rioters descending toward the Palestinian village of Jit. By 8:15 p.m., military forces arrived in the village, and precisely 20 minutes later all rioters were removed.
Forces told Ynet that the entire episode concluded in under half an hour, unlike when settlers rampaged the town of Huwara last year. The military said its troops remained in the village to assist the residents to extinguish the fires and escape the flames.
On Monday the police said two more people were arrested in connection with an attack on a group of Bedouin women in the illegal outpost of Givat Ronen earlier this month. The women, who entered the outpost by mistake after taking the wrong turn on their way to Nablus, were attacked with stones and threatened that they would be killed. After they escaped, their car was set on fire.
The police say its investigation is still underway but that it is difficult to obtain the evidence needed to file charges. The suspects have been remanded to custody.
On Sunday, State Attorney Amit Isman convened a meeting with senior officials from the Israel Police, IDF and Shin Bet to discuss the settler attack on Jit. Isman also sought updates on the investigations into all recent attacks by settlers in the West Bank.
The police were repeatedly accused of failing to properly investigate crimes committed by extremist settlers.