Police say 10 suspects arrested for West Bank settler attacks on ...
Police arrest 10 suspects for West Bank settler attacks on journalist, EU diplomats
Rare police action against settlers follows days of international pressure over high-profile assaults; meanwhile, new attacks by Jewish extremists reported
Israel announced the arrest of several suspected settler extremists on Monday morning, after days of international pressure to take action following weekend attacks on Palestinians, foreign diplomats and a photojournalist in the West Bank.
At the same time, fresh incidents of settler violence were reported.
Police said that 10 Israeli suspects were detained at dawn on suspicion of participating in the weekend attacks. The suspects were detained in several locations in the central West Bank.
“Evidence linking them to the alleged acts was found in their possession, and several vehicles were seized,” police said.
Settler activists said that one of the locations raided by the police was an illegal farming outpost close to the Ofra settlement. Several other outposts were also raided near the Shiloh settlement, 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) north of Ofra.
Police said dozens of officers took part in the arrest operation, dubbed “Olive Leaf,” in reference to the violence during the Palestinian olive harvest. It was described as a joint effort with the Shin Bet security agency, with an IDF escort.
The 10 suspects were detained “on suspicion of involvement in the violent incidents,” violating a closed military zone order issued by IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, “and illegal construction,” police said.
Police officers arrest Israeli suspects in the West Bank, early October 19, 2026. (Israel Police)
Police sent out footage showing some of the arrests and displaying slingshots found in raided homes.
Over the weekend, masked Israeli settlers launched several attacks on Palestinians harvesting olives. In one incident on Friday, settlers violently assaulted and injured Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine. On Saturday, European diplomats were attacked near the village of Taybeh.
The US condemned the attack on the reporter, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the administration was “very disturbed by those images and what we’re seeing” and expected Israeli action. The European Union said it expects “full accountability as well as effective measures to prevent continued acts of violence.”
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cast doubt on both incidents, saying there were questions regarding what had occurred and that full investigations were needed.
Police said that in accordance with the findings from their interrogation, the suspects would be brought before a court for a remand hearing. The right-wing Honenu legal aid group said it was representing the detainees.
Police added that IDF and Border Police forces were also “conducting enforcement operations” to dismantle illegal settler outposts and to address violations of closed military zone orders issued by the army, as well as an “intrusion into a Palestinian home.”
Settler violence against Palestinians has soared this year and spiked further in the weeks leading up to Israel’s October 27 election. Police action against the extremists is rare.
Israel has faced growing international criticism over the surge in violence, which Netanyahu has downplayed as the work of a small number of delinquents. Critics accuse the government of condoning and even encouraging the violence, which has led to the displacement of dozens of Palestinian families.
The IDF also faces mounting criticism for troops often standing by while attacks unfold, or actively participating.
Few culprits have faced arrest or charges for assaults.
Fresh attacks
New incidents of settler violence were reported on Sunday and early Monday.
On Sunday night, the IDF said settlers had raided a Palestinian village in the West Bank, spraying graffiti on a building and setting fire to a storage container.
The army said troops and police officers were dispatched to Wadi a-Rahim in the South Hebron Hills after a fire was identified near an illegal outpost in the area. “It later emerged that several Israeli civilians who entered the area of the village had sprayed graffiti and set fire to a container used as a storage shed,” the military said.
Police officers arrived at the scene to investigate the attack.
The army added that security forces had begun dismantling the illegal outpost.
And on Monday morning, Palestinian media outlets reported that settlers had set fire to a vehicle overnight in the village of Beit Ummar, near Hebron in the southern West Bank, during a raid on the village.
There were no reports of injuries.
#عاجل| مليشيات من المستوطنين تهاجم منازل الفلسطينيين في منطقة صافا ببلدة بيت أمر شمال الخليل. pic.twitter.com/SJBRqMQoyS
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) October 18, 2026
Nurit Yohanan, Jeremy Sharon, Lazar Berman and agencies contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.