The Israeli military detained six settlers in the occupied West Bank overnight after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say the suspects attacked security forces.
The IDF says they spotted Israeli civilians driving toward a closed military zone near the Palestinian village of Kafr Malik, where days earlier settlers set fire to homes and vehicles in an attack Palestinian officials say killed three people.
When Israeli forces approached the group, the IDF says the soldiers were physically assaulted and verbally abused. In addition, the suspects vandalized and damaged the security forces鈥 vehicles and attempted to ram the forces.
The IDF said that a preliminary investigation indicated that their forces had fired three warning shots into the air, but did not fire live ammunition at civilians.
Six suspects were apprehended and transferred to police, the IDF said.
鈥淭he IDF and Israel Police condemn any act of violence against security forces and will act firmly against any attempt to harm security personnel carrying out their duty to protect Israeli citizens,鈥 the IDF said in a statement.
Most Israeli politicians condemned the settler attacks against Israeli security forces.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for a thorough investigation and for the people who attacked the security forces to be brought to justice.
鈥淭hese individuals are a small minority who do not represent the vast majority of settlers, who respect the law and serve in the IDF and the security forces,鈥 Netanyahu said.
Head of the opposition Yair Lapid said in a statement on social media, 鈥淭he extremists who attack IDF soldiers who are guarding the security of the State of Israel during these difficult days are dangerous criminals who are aiding our enemies.鈥
Yair Golan, the head of the left-wing Democrats party, who had called earlier settler attacks in the area a 鈥渧iolent Jewish pogrom,鈥 said the violence from 鈥渢he Kahanist, nationalist, and fantastic Israel is deliberately working to dismantle the Jewish and democratic Israel.鈥 Golan referenced Meir Kahane, an extremist rabbi whose political party was banned outright in Israel under anti-terror laws.
鈥淭his is not a marginal occurrence. This is a dangerous current that has taken deep roots. Even around the government table,鈥 Golan said, a reference to the far-right ministers that prop up the coalition government, including Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, both of whom were sanctioned earlier this month by the UK, Canada, and other Western allies.
Smotrich has called for formal annexation of West Bank settlements, while Ben-Gvir鈥檚 party consists of followers of Kahane鈥檚 banned political party.
Responding to the latest incident, Smotrich, who serves as Israel鈥檚 Finance Minister and as a minister in the Ministry of Defense, said there should be a 鈥渢horough investigation鈥 into whether the IDF had fired on the settlers, an action he described as a 鈥渇orbidden and dangerous red line.鈥
鈥淭he IDF and the settlers are one and the same. Anyone who raises a hand against IDF soldiers is fighting against the settlement movement, not for it,鈥 Smotrich said. 鈥淎nd still 鈥 live fire on Jews is unacceptable and dangerous.鈥
In a statement, Defense Minister Israel Katz called on law enforcement authorities to act immediately to locate all those who resorted to violence and bring them to justice 鈥渁s is done everywhere.鈥
On Friday, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the Palestinian Authority presidency, said the settler attacks are part of a plan by Israel鈥檚 鈥渆xtremist right-wing government鈥 to drag the West Bank into a larger confrontation, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA. Abu Rudeineh held Israel fully responsible for 鈥渢he consequences of this bloody aggression,鈥 WAFA said.
Israel has been ramping up military operations in the West Bank alongside the offensive in Gaza and attacks on Iran and its proxies, displacing thousands of Palestinians and razing entire communities as it targets what it says are militants operating in the territory.
Earlier this week, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian teenager in the West Bank, Palestinian health authorities said. The Israeli military said that 鈥渢errorists hurled explosive devices at IDF forces.鈥
In late-May, Israel approved a massive expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank in a move decried as de facto annexation of large swaths of the territory. Peace Now, an Israeli non-governmental organization that tracks settlements, said it was the largest expansion of settlements since the signing of the Oslo Accords more than 30 years ago.
Israel plans to establish 22 new settlements, including deep within the West Bank and in areas from which the country had previously withdrawn. Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, as well as in East Jerusalem and the occupied Golan Heights, are considered illegal under international law.