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West Bank tensions rise
A senior IDF Central Command officer said on Friday that several Israelis enter the West Bank for hikes each week without military approval, adding, "Some [hikes] are not approved and not coordinated."
“"Some [hikes] are not approved and not coordinated,"”
The officer said the IDF permits hikes throughout areas under Israeli security and civilian control as long as they undergo a required coordination process with the regional brigade in the Judea and Samaria Division, carried out under the hike approval procedure.
He linked the comments to heightened tensions in the West Bank and to the July 24 terrorist attack on the outskirts of the Palestinian village of Tal in the Samaria Brigade sector, in which Maj. Yuval Ezra and Capt. Binyahu Malat were killed.
The officer said the IDF received information that same night about a separate hike planned for the southern Itamar area, and that this hike received a response after the IDF contacted the hike organizers, understood its route, set clear guidelines, and deployed a security force there.
He described the sequence leading up to the July 24 attack, saying the hike set out in the morning at around 5:30 from the community of Bracha and continued for nearly two hours without IDF soldiers operating in the area being aware of it.
Video probe and raids
The IDF said it was probing footage circulating online Saturday that appeared to show an Israeli soldier beating a Palestinian in the West Bank village of Idna, with the military saying troops were dispatched following a "confrontation" between Israelis and Palestinians in the village.
The Times of Israel reported that the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said settlers attacked Palestinians near a mosque in Idna, and that WAFA reported soldiers detained seven Palestinians during the incident using live ammunition, stun grenades and tear gas.
Haaretz reported that over the weekend, at least 20 Palestinians were wounded in the West Bank due to settler raids and Israeli military forces dispatched in response to settler attacks, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The Times of Israel said WAFA also reported settlers pitched a tent in the town’s al-Jalatiya neighborhood, bringing with them a flock of sheep and vandalizing a Palestinian vehicle.
Haaretz’s account placed the injuries in the context of raids and military responses across the West Bank over the weekend, while the IDF review of the Idna video focused on the conduct of forces in the incident.
What’s at stake next
In the Jerusalem Post account, the senior IDF officer emphasized that after an investigation into the July 24 terrorist attack, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir determined that the hike near Tell had not been coordinated with or approved by the IDF.
“Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir determined that the hike near Tell had not been coordinated”
He said the IDF today requires settlers and anyone who comes to hike in Judea and Samaria to go through an orderly process with the regional brigades and the division, describing an approval that includes an organized security framework with clear definitions of what is permitted and prohibited.
The Times of Israel described how the IDF dispatched troops to Idna after a confrontation, while WAFA reported that settlers physically assaulted locals near the mosque and fired bullets in the air, allegedly while being protected by Israeli troops.
Haaretz framed the weekend’s injuries as resulting from settler raids and Israeli military forces dispatched in response to settler attacks, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent for the figure of at least 20 wounded.
Across the accounts, the immediate consequence is continued scrutiny of coordination and force conduct in the West Bank, from hike approval procedures and investigations to IDF reviews of incidents captured on video and the pattern of raids and responses described over the weekend.
