Israeli police have arrested ten suspects following a pre-dawn operation across the occupied West Bank, targeting individuals linked to a violent weekend of settler attacks against an American photojournalist and European diplomats, abc.net.au reported.
Pre-Dawn Raids and Seized Evidence
The coordinated sweep involved police, military forces, and the Shin Bet domestic security service, according to SBS. Authorities raided several locations across the West Bank, seizing potential evidence including slingshots that can be used to hurl stones from hilltops. Major General Moshe Finchi, the Israeli police’s West Bank commander, stated that the arrests came after severe incidents of violence over the weekend, including the assault of a media worker and suspected attacks on foreign civilians. Suspects were detained on suspicion of involvement in the violence.
Israeli police commissioner Daniel Levy emphasized that the law applies universally, stating that enforcement is based on evidence and conducted impartially regardless of identity or affiliation. Video footage released by the police of the operation appeared to show at least one arrested suspect wearing ritual tzitzit, while property searches uncovered slingshots.
International Outrage and High-Profile Victims
The crackdown follows intense global pressure from the United States, France, Belgium, and Poland. On Friday, dozens of masked settlers descended upon a Palestinian olive harvest, using clubs and slingshots. During the melee, 63-year-old Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, a U.S. citizen, was beaten for more than 10 minutes, suffering broken ribs, hand injuries, and the theft of her camera, passport, and phone. Levine underwent surgery on a finger at a hospital in Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv.
U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee denounced the assault as a “despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards,” demanding that perpetrators spend years in prison. President Isaac Herzog apologized to Levine, stating that the violent rioters did not represent Israeli values. Meanwhile, human rights group Yesh Din reported that settler attacks have surged to at least 170 incidents since September 27.
On Saturday, a separate attack targeted European diplomats, including Belgium’s consul general, French and Polish diplomats, and Catholic representatives in the village of Taybeh, northeast of Jerusalem. A French mayor, 78-year-old Bernard Baudoux of Aulnoye-Aymeries, was beaten while helping harvest olives, and a Belgian diplomatic vehicle was damaged. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot urged Israel to urgently halt criminal violence and arrest those responsible, while Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot blamed illegal settlement policy and called for an end to impunity for violent settlers.
Political Divergence Ahead of October 27 Elections
While Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and the military condemned the attacks as severe acts of violence by rioters, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adopted a more circumspect stance. Facing a tight race in the October 27 elections where his religious-nationalist coalition is projected to lose its governing majority, Netanyahu suggested the diplomats entered a sensitive area without military coordination and claimed the facts surrounding Levine’s attack were unclear.
