In a joint statement, Israel’s military, police and domestic security service chiefs said the settlers’ actions amounted to nationalist terrorism. The military will boost its forces in the area to prevent such violence and the Shin Bet domestic security service will enhance arrests.
By Reuters: Israeli security chiefs on Saturday designated settler attacks on Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank as “nationalist terrorism” that merits stepped-up countermeasures, and their remarks drew anger from far-right cabinet ministers.
A surge of violence over the past week in the West Bank included rampages by scores of Israeli settlers on Palestinian towns and villages that drew international condemnation and concern from the White House.
On Saturday, settlers torched at least two homes in the Palestinian village Umm Safa near Ramallah, residents said. Israel’s military said at least one Israeli suspect had been arrested.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant condemned the attack.
In a joint statement, Israel’s military, police and domestic security service chiefs said the settlers’ actions amounted to “nationalist terrorism” which they pledged to fight.
The military will boost its forces in the area to prevent such violence, they said, and the Shin Bet domestic security service will enhance arrests, including “administrative detention” in which suspects can be held without charge.
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