Multiple reports of settler violence in the West Bank surfaced over Rosh Hashanah, with no reported arrests, as lawlessness in the Israeli-controlled territory continued unabated.
In the central West Bank village of Beitillu, Arabic media reported Saturday evening that a 23-year-old Palestinian man was brutally beaten during a settler raid.
The victim was photographed bruised and bloodied in an ambulance as he was evacuated to a nearby hospital.
Additional footage showed settlers armed with clubs walking away from the area after apparently carrying out the attack.
There were no reports of arrests, which are highly rare in cases of settler violence, even though attacks take place on a near-daily basis.
In the northern West Bank, Channel 13 aired footage Sunday it said depicted settler arsonists setting agricultural land alight.
And the Israeli volunteer group Looking the Occupation in the Eye posted a video from the area of Duma, near Nablus, where it said settlers assaulted a TV crew for France’s TF1 channel as it filmed with the activists outside an illegal outpost.
There have been near-daily attacks and harassment of Palestinians by settlers in recent months.
In a rare occurrence, two West Bank settlers, including an 18-year-old IDF soldier from the Jordan Valley, were arrested last week on suspicion of taking part in an August 29 attack in Qusra.
The High Court, echoing outrage from others about the phenomenon, lambasted the IDF, Israel Police and Defense Minister Israel Katz on September 6 for failing to tackle the violence.
“This is a completely unacceptable phenomenon that stands in contrast to the basic values and moral principles of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, and in contrast to the principles of liberty, fairness, and justice of Jewish heritage and the [biblical] prophets of Israel,” the court said in a decision on a case dealing with a settler attack.
The justices added that extremist settler violence and the failure to tackle it also harm Israel’s image internationally as a state that respects the rule of law.
Earlier this month, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called for “severe consequences” for violent settlers as he met with Palestinians in the West Bank.
The meeting in Turmus Ayya included families of Palestinian Americans killed by settlers. The Ramallah-area town, home to a large number of US citizens, has faced repeated settler attacks.
“Our clear message is that crime is crime, terror is terror. When people do it, they should have an expectation that they will have severe consequences,” Huckabee told reporters, adding that “the government has a responsibility” to ensure targeted Palestinians’ safety.
Taking action was also in Israel’s “best interest,” Huckabee said, since “their reputation does not do well when it appears that this tiny little group of marauders are somehow representative of the larger population. I don’t believe that it is.”
“There may be a few hundred who are responsible, but that’s a few hundred too many,” he said.
Original Source: The Times of Israel
