Israel’s president and the IDF are strongly condemning the spiralling violence by settlers against Palestinian Arabs and the army in the West Bank. 

Several Israeli settlers were arrested on Tuesday following attacks against Palestinians in the areas of between Nablus and Tulkarem in the northern part of the West Bank. 

Four Palestinians were injured in the attacks in Bayt Lid and Dayr Sharaf by dozens of settlers who also set fire to 10 trucks, fields, and a factory in an industrial zone. 

The masked settlers, who were caught on surveillance cameras as they set fire to trucks, also attacked Israeli soldiers and caused damage to an IDF vehicle. 

“The severe events that took place this evening in Samaria by a violent and dangerous handful are shocking and serious. Such violence against civilians and against IDF soldiers crosses a red line, and I strongly condemn it,” President Isaac Herzog said in a statement. 

Mr. Herzog called on all state authorities to “act decisively to eradicate this phenomenon and to strengthen the IDF soldiers and security forces who guard us day and night.”

The IDF also issued a statement, saying the army “strongly condemns all forms of violence that distract commanders and soldiers from their operational duties of protecting the area and conducting counterterrorism activities.”

An IDF spokesman, Nadav Shoshani, told foreign reporters at a briefing that the IDF has “zero tolerance for those who take the law into their own hands. Violence (committed) by any civilian Palestinian or Israeli is illegal and unacceptable.”

The commander of the IDF’s Central Command, Major General Avi Bluth, also spoke out against the attacks, saying the “reality in which anarchist fringe youth act violently against innocent civilians and against security forces is unacceptable and is extremely serious. It must be dealt with firmly.”

“Dealing with this phenomenon requires the combined efforts of all branches of the State of Israel: education, welfare, law enforcement, and disciplinary measures… The directive to IDF soldiers is clear: Do not stand idly by, and do everything in your power to prevent any act of nationalist crime,” he added. 

The IDF has, however, come under intense criticism both inside Israel and abroad for failing to rein in settler violence in recent years. Soldiers have often been caught on camera standing by as settlers attack Palestinians in the West Bank. 

The leader of Israel’s Democratic Party, Yair Golan, meanwhile said that “Jewish terror incidents are escalating and worsening. This is neither Jewish nor Israeli; the military arm of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir is running wild, the police are not enforcing and no indictments are being filed,” Mr. Golan said, referring to the finance minister, Betzalel Smotrich, and national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir. 

Mr. Golan accused the two cabinet members of seeking an escalation in the West Bank; “They want a third intifada and the collapse of the Palestinian Authority on their way to annexation. We must stop them before it’s too late.”

The Democrats Party leader is just one of many opposition leaders and lawmakers who have harshly criticized government ministers for openly supporting violent settlers. 

In February 2023, after hundreds of settlers burned down some 75 homes and 100 cars in the Palestinian village of Huwara in the West Bank, ministers openly showed support for the attack which was described as a “pogrom” by the IDF. 

The finance minister, Betzalel Smotrich, a security cabinet member at the time, called on the village to be “wiped out.” The attack on Huwara came in response to a Palestinian terrorist who shot and killed two Israelis in the village.