The Israeli navy mentioned on Wednesday it had “failed” in its response to a settler assault within the occupied West Financial institution earlier this month that Palestinian officers mentioned killed one man.
The August 15 raid on the northern West Financial institution village of Jit got here amid hovering violence within the Palestinian territory throughout the Gaza struggle and rising worldwide concern over an uptick in assaults by Jewish settlers.
Main Basic Avi Bluth, head of the navy’s Central Command which operates within the West Financial institution, was quoted in an announcement as saying the assault was “a really severe terror incident during which Israelis got down to intentionally hurt the residents of the city of Jit, and we failed by not succeeding to reach earlier to guard them”.
Jit residents have mentioned about 100 settlers armed with knives and firearms set fireplace to automobiles and houses within the village.
The navy, releasing on Wednesday a abstract of its investigation, mentioned the group wore masks, threw rocks and Molotov cocktails and set three autos and two buildings on fireplace.
The Palestinian well being ministry mentioned a 23-year-old Palestinian man, Rashid Sada, was shot lifeless within the assault.
Final week, Israeli police and the Shin Wager inside safety service mentioned that they had arrested 4 suspects for “terrorist” acts in reference to the incident.
The navy’s investigation discovered that the primary troops on the scene “didn’t handle to completely gauge the state of affairs” and “wanted to behave extra decisively”, the assertion mentioned.
“A number of members of the speedy response group from a close-by (settlement) neighborhood, who weren’t in energetic reserve responsibility, arrived on the scene with out authorisation, wearing uniform, and acted opposite to the authority outlined for the members of the speedy response group,” it added with out elaborating.
Two members of the group “had been dismissed, and their weapons had been confiscated”, it mentioned.
The assertion mentioned the taking pictures that killed Sada and wounded one other Palestinian occurred earlier than extra Israeli forces managed to disperse the assailants.
“The troops acted assertively, risking their lives, containing the rioters, and pushing them out of the city utilizing crowd dispersal means and firing into the air,” the assertion mentioned.
“Half an hour after the incident started, all Israelis had been faraway from the city.”
Bluth was quoted as saying the case “is not going to be closed till we convey the perpetrators to justice”.
– Rising violence –
Israeli President Isaac Herzog “firmly” condemned the assault on Jit when it occurred.
Since Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 assault on Israel triggered struggle in Gaza, violence has flared within the West Financial institution, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967 and separated geographically from Gaza by Israeli territory.
Israeli settlements within the West Financial institution, the place some 490,000 folks stay, are unlawful below worldwide legislation. The United Nations considers them an impediment to Israeli-Palestinian peace.
On Wednesday Washington introduced new sanctions on Israeli settlers within the West Financial institution over violence in opposition to Palestinians, urging Israel to convey larger accountability.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned on Wednesday that he seen the sanctions “with utmost severity” and that they had been the topic of “pointed dialogue” with the US.
Since October 7, no less than 637 Palestinians have been killed within the West Financial institution by Israeli troops or settlers, in keeping with the United Nations.
Throughout the identical interval, no less than 19 Israelis, together with troopers, have been killed in Palestinian assaults, in keeping with Israeli official figures.