Israel police arrest suspect seen attacking Palestinians while in military uniform

[TITLE272]Israeli Police Detain Suspect in Alleged Attack on Palestinians While Wearing Military Uniform[/TITLE272]

JERUSALEM – Israeli police announcedagir that they had arrested an Israeli settler accused of violently assaulting Palestinians in the occupied West Bank while donning a military uniform in June. The confrontation occurred on June 6 in the Palestinian town of Hawara in the northern West Bank,.Deepening tensions amid a surge in settler aggression across the territory.

Video footage released by Israeli media shows several assailants pushing two Palestinians to the ground and physically attacking them. One of the attackers, wearing a military uniform, repeatedly punched a Palestinian lying on the floor.

“The individual captured in the recordings wearing IDF gear during the assault and who had been at large for the past month has now been taken into custody,” police officials stated. They added that the suspect was “equipped with IDF equipment, including an M16 rifle and a handgun, and apparently violently assaulted several Palestinians, some of whom required hospitalization.”

Investigators identified the suspect as a man in his 20s residing in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank and a member of a rapid-response squad—armed civilian units that provide security for settlements. Police clarified that the suspect was not an active‑duty soldier. Additional arrests have been made in connection with the incident, and an indictment has been filed against one participant involved in the assault.

Excluding annexed East Jerusalem, roughly 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank alongside just over 500 000 Israelis in settlements deemed illegal under international law. The intensity of violence in the West Bank, which Israel has controlled since 1967, has escalated since the Hamas offensive that began on the night of 7 October 2023. According to Palestinian sources, at least 1 097 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers. Official Israeli statistics report that at least 48 Israelis, both civilians and security personnel, have lost their lives in attacks by Palestinians or during Israeli military operations.

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