Settlers filmed attacking activists, reporters in front of IDF troops; none arrested

Israeli settlers were filmed on Tuesday attacking a group of left-wing activists and journalists in front of IDF soldiers in the southern West Bank before being allowed to flee the area without a single arrest being made. The activists from several Israeli rights groups were in the Bethlehem-area Palestinian village of Jannatah to help residents put up a fence around several homes on the outskirts of the town that has come under repeated attack by settlers. Also on site were a group of journalists from the French AFP news agency who were working on a story about Israeli activists conducting such solidarity visits to Palestinian villages facing settler violence. But shortly after their arrival, the activists and journalists were surrounded by masked settlers, who struck them with clubs, hurled stones at them and pepper-sprayed them. The settlers, many of them children, threw stones at the journalists and activists. One AFP journalist ducked a stone, but then a child settler struck him in the chin with a stick, causing minor bleeding, he said. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Newsletter email address Get it By signing up, you agree to the terms Footage showed soldiers attempting to break up the altercation with little success. Jewish ritual fringes, known as tzitzit, are seen peeking out from underneath the shirts of the masked attackers. Jannata: Jewish terrorists are attacking our activists. Terrorists sprayed them with pepper spray, beat a 70-year-old activist, smashed the windows of four vehicles, and slashed their tires. Soldiers stood by and watched. The police arrived only hours after the attack had ended. pic.twitter.com/zeQjjpEiWL — Rabbis for Human Rights (@rabbis4HR) August 25, 2026 Advertisement According to Rabbis for Human Rights, the “Jewish terrorists” pepper-sprayed the activists, beat a 70-year-old activist, and smashed the windows and slashed the tires of four cars. Five people were treated for injuries, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said, with AFP journalists reporting seeing at least one Israeli activist taken in a Palestinian ambulance. In another clip, a soldier can be seen holding the camera of a journalist who documented the settler attack, demanding that he leave the area. Israeli left-wing activists install barbed-wire as they create a protective fence around Palestinian property in the West Bank Palestinian village of Jannatah on the outskirts of Bethlehem on August 25, 2026. (Ilia YEFIMOVICH/AFP) While IDF soldiers have the authority to apprehend Israeli suspects in the field before handing them over to police, troops rarely do so. Activists said they called police to the scene but that the officers only arrived well after the assailants had fled. Police defended their conduct, saying they arrived at the scene upon being called and opened an investigation into the incident. Advertisement עימות חמור בין מתנחלים לפעילי שמאל באיזור המאחז כוכב יהודה שפונה רק אתמול בפעם המי יודע כמה. פעילי השמאל טוענים שהגיעו למקום לבנות גדר סביב אחד הבתים הפלסטינים והותקפו באלימות ובגז פלפל על ידי מתנחלים רעולי פנים . הפעילים טוענים שצהל שהיה במקום לא הצליח לחצוץ בינם לבין המתנחלים > pic.twitter.com/6G4LMuTUUl — Haim Goldich | חיים גולדיטש (@HGoldich) August 25, 2026 In its own statement, the IDF said troops worked to break up the altercation, but did not explain why none of the assailants were apprehended. Hours before the attack, Israeli authorities demolished a nearby settler outpost called Kochav Yehuda, whose residents have repeatedly harassed residents of Jannatah. Israeli settlers, holding sticks, arrive to confront left-wing activists at an Israeli outpost in the Palestinian village of Jannatah, south of Bethlehem, on August 25, 2026. (ilia YEFIMOVICH/AFP) The outpost has been rebuilt and dismantled dozens of times, as Israeli authorities have struggled to rein in the young settler extremists determined to remain on the plot of land by Palestinians. Settler violence has surged in recent months, with daily attacks and harassment. Prosecutions are rare, and critics accuse the IDF and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of condoning or even encouraging the violence. The most senior IDF officer in the West Bank reportedly warned during a closed-door security assessment on Monday that mounting settler violence could ignite a broader escalation in the territory. Palestinian woman taken into custody while reporting settler attack on her home Also on Tuesday, the Haaretz daily reported that Israeli authorities have been holding a Palestinian woman in custody for almost a week after she filed a police complaint about settlers allegedly torching her home. Advertisement The woman has been charged in a military court with filing a false complaint and harming regional security. Police claim the fire in the southern West Bank hamlet of Khillet al-Farra was actually caused by an electrical failure. The woman told Palestinian media hours after the fire overnight Wednesday-Thursday that she woke up in the middle of the night to noises from masked men outside speaking in Hebrew. She said she saw them pour flammable liquid into the house and set it on fire. https://static-cdn.toi-media.com/www/uploads/2026/08/ali-2.mp4 A fire reportedly started by settlers engulfs a Palestinian home in Khillet al-Farra, southern West Bank, August 20, 2026. (Courtesy) A WhatsApp group of settler extremists that shares footage of their attacks on Palestinians posted footage of the incident later that day before deleting the clip shortly thereafter. When she went to file a complaint on Thursday at a nearby police station, authorities took her into custody, Haaretz said. At a remand hearing on Monday, police failed to present the court with the fire department’s final report on its findings from its probe into the fire. A police statement hours after the fire overnight Wednesday-Thursday declared that it had not been caused by settlers. But a police representative at the hearing acknowledged that the matter is still being investigated and that arson had not yet been ruled out as a potential cause. Justifying the charge against the woman for allegedly harming regional security, the police representative claimed spreading false information could lead to acts of revenge against Israelis. 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