Days after violence left one person dead and another injured in the occupied West Bank, Israeli authorities have arrested four people, including a minor, on suspicion of carrying out “terrorist incidents” against Palestinians.
The arrests come as Israel has faced mounting pressure from the international community, including its closest ally, the United States, to do more to address a rise in deadly settler violence in the West Bank amid Israel's ongoing military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s domestic security agency, Shin Bet, announced the arrests in a joint statement with the Israel Police on Wednesday. It said that three adults and a minor had been arrested over violence in the village of Jit last Thursday, including “serious disturbances.”
“This is a serious terrorist incident that included burning buildings and vehicles, throwing stones and throwing Molotov bottles. Also, a shooting that killed a Palestinian and injured another,” the statement said.
The suspects were not identified.
Jit residents told Reuters that scores of people, many wearing masks and clad in black clothing, had taken part in last week's attack. They said the effort appeared to be well-coordinated, with people dividing into groups, some armed with guns, while others threw stones and Molotov cocktails.
NBC News was unable to independently confirm their accounts, but it was able to verify videos shared on social media showing a vehicle and building on fire in the village of Jit that day.
The violence drew condemnation from the White House, which said in a statement shortly after the attacks that violence by settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank was “unacceptable and must stop.”
It also called on Israeli authorities to take measures to address the attacks, saying they should intervene “to stop such violence” and hold “all perpetrators of such violence to account.”
The U.S. has in recent months ramped up pressure on Israel to address violence by settlers in the occupied West Bank amid a deadly rise in attacks and fears of a land grab underway in the Palestinian territory. It has also placed sanctions on individuals and organizations associated with the violence.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), says it has identified more than 1,000 attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank in the more than 10 months since Israel launched its military offensive in the Gaza Strip after Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attacks.
These attacks have led to 1,547 Palestinians, including at least 753 children, being displaced, OCHA said in an update Wednesday.
Between last Tuesday and Sunday, 45 Palestinians, including 28 children, were displaced “due to Israeli settler violence and harassment, and the takeover of Palestinian property,” the update said.
“More than 600 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” since Oct. 7, it said.
“During the same period, 15 Israelis, including nine members of Israeli forces and five settlers, were killed by Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” it added. Israeli officials have regularly accused the United Nations of undercounting the number of deaths.
