Israeli police detain West Bank settlers after attacks on journalists and diplomats
Israeli police detained 10 people in a rare raid against West Bank settlers and released footage of it on Monday morning, after a weekend of violence targeting a US photojournalist and European diplomats during the olive harvest.
Israeli police detain West Bank settlers after attacks on journalists and diplomats
Israeli police released footage on Monday morning of a rare raid on settlers, saying they had detained 10 people connected with attacks on foreigners and with illegal construction in the occupied West Bank.
The detentions followed a weekend in which a US photojournalist covering the olive harvest was beaten by masked Israeli men, and a group of European diplomats came under assault outside the town of Taybeh.
Who was detained and what happens next
The raid, announced on Monday, targeted settlers connected with the weekend violence. Police described the operation as unusual for the occupied West Bank.
- Israeli police detained 10 people in the raid
- The footage of the operation was released on Monday morning
- The detainees were connected with attacks on foreigners and with construction
Hours after the raid was announced, a court extended the detention of six men connected with the attacks on foreigners to between three and four days.
The attacks that prompted the raid
On Friday, US photojournalist Heidi Levine was knocked down, kicked and beaten by a group of masked Israeli men as she covered the olive harvest in a Palestinian village. The attackers broke four vertebrae and a rib, ripped open a finger so that it required surgery, and left lacerations across her body.
Speaking from her hospital bed on Monday, Levine said: 'I was practically, basically lynched by a gang of Jewish settlers in the area of Ramallah.'
The next day, Israeli militants armed with sticks and iron bars attacked a group of European diplomats and Palestinians harvesting olives outside Taybeh. The assault left a visiting French mayor attacked, an official car window smashed and a young Palestinian man severely injured.
Netanyahu's response and international reaction
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu questioned the accounts, referring to an 'alleged attack' on Levine and 'unproven allegations' that the diplomats had been targeted, despite video and witness evidence.
Levine, whose body armour and helmet she said prevented more serious injuries, said the prime minister's attempt to cast doubt on the attack felt like 'a big slap on my face'.
The attacks drew a furious international reaction, including from US secretary of state Marco Rubio, US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, European nations and Washington Post editor Matt Murray.
Levine also said the global attention on her case pointed to double standards: 'People are dealing with this, undergoing attacks, losing property, losing family members, being injured all across the West Bank and nothing is being done.'
A pattern of settler violence
The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din has documented 561 incidents of settler and soldier violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank over three weeks since 27 September - an average of more than 26 per day.
- Yesh Din executive director Ziv Stahl said it took attacks on foreign nationals to prompt a response
- 94% of investigations into cases of settler violence against Palestinians are closed without indictments
- Netanyahu's scepticism was widely seen as an attempt to court far-right voters in the final days of an election campaign; his coalition includes extremist settlers
Haaretz reported on Monday, citing Israeli defence officials, that political pressure was preventing the army from confronting 'Jewish terrorism' in the West Bank, with commanders reluctant to challenge settler leaders.
The paper also cited a March attack on a CNN crew, after which Central Command chief Maj Gen Avi Bluth suspended the battalion responsible from operational duty and announced disciplinary action against soldiers involved - yet the brigade commander visited the soldiers' base that same night to express support and join them in prayer.
The next step in the case is the court's clock: the six men whose detention was extended over the attacks on foreigners face between three and four further days in custody.
