Netanyahu condemns settler violence on IDF in West Bank

On Saturday, dozens of settlers, some of them masked, hurled stones at Israeli troops and border police near the West Bank settlement of Itamar.

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the plenum, during a discussion on the subject of hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem, November 18, 2024.  (photo credit: REUTERS/RONEN ZVULUN/FILE PHOTO)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the plenum, during a discussion on the subject of hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem, November 18, 2024.
(photo credit: REUTERS/RONEN ZVULUN/FILE PHOTO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned on Sunday Jewish settlers who attacked senior Israeli IDF officers, including Major General Avi Bluth, the head of the army's Central Command in the West Bank.

The IDF said that a group of settlers trailed Bluth and other officers in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, blocked their exit, and hurled abuse at them. It added that five rioters had been arrested.

"All violence directed against IDF officers and soldiers must be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law," the prime minister's office said in a statement.

Some of the crowd yelled "traitor" at Bluth, who had visited Hebron to attend an annual religious event in the city.

 Jewish settlers seen while Palestinian farmers pick olives during the annual harvest season, in the village of Burqa, east of Ramallah, West Bank, October 20, 2024 (credit: FLASH90)
Jewish settlers seen while Palestinian farmers pick olives during the annual harvest season, in the village of Burqa, east of Ramallah, West Bank, October 20, 2024 (credit: FLASH90)

Violence against the IDF

On Saturday, dozens of settlers, some of them masked, hurled stones at Israeli troops and border police near the West Bank settlement of Itamar, police said.