U.S. lauds Israel for arresting 10 over West Bank settler attacks
Israeli police say they arrested 10 people over alleged Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians and a U.S. journalist as more attacks on Palestinians are reported.
Key points
- Israeli police arrested 10 suspects over attacks on Palestinians, a US photojournalist and European diplomats in the West Bank.
- The arrests, called Operation Olive Leaf, followed attacks during the annual olive harvest.
- US officials condemned the attack on journalist Heidi Levine and urged Israel to crack down.
Israeli police said Monday they arrested 10 people suspected of involvement in recent violent attacks on Palestinians, an American photojournalist and European diplomats in the occupied West Bank. The arrests, named Operation Olive Leaf, followed a pre-dawn raid conducted with the Shin Bet security agency under a military commander's order declaring a closed military zone.
Police said items linking the suspects to the alleged offenses were seized and several vehicles were confiscated. The announcement came as further violence against Palestinians in the territory was reported Monday.
Attacks on journalist and diplomats
On Friday, Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine and several Palestinians were injured when masked Israeli men attacked Palestinians harvesting olives, according to videos, eyewitnesses and Palestinian authorities. On Saturday, European officials and the Israeli military said a diplomatic convoy with representatives from France, Belgium and Poland was assaulted near the Palestinian village of Taybeh.
Netanyahu's office said video of the convoy incident did not establish the full sequence of events or individual responsibility. Israel's military said the convoy was not coordinated with the defense forces but did not deny it came under attack.
a very positive development in finding & punishing those who severely attacked and beat Heidi Levine an unarmed journalist
— Mike Huckabee
US reaction
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called the arrests "a very positive development in finding & punishing those who severely attacked and beat Heidi Levine an unarmed journalist." Over the weekend he described the attack on Levine as an act of terror by masked cowards.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attack on Levine on Saturday and said the US had asked Israel to crack down on such violence.
Further violence reported
WAFA, the Palestinian Authority's official media arm, reported Monday that two Palestinians were injured in Turmus Ayya and Deir Abu Mash'al amid attempts to set homes on fire by torching vehicles. Israel's military said Israeli civilians entered Wadi a-Rahim on Sunday night, sprayed graffiti and burned a storage shed, and that it had begun dismantling an illegal settler outpost there.
