IDF’s dire verdict after Jewish mob sets West Bank village ablaze

@mrconfino

The Israeli army has condemned what it called a ‘pogrom’ carried out by rioting Jewish settlers in a Palestinian West Bank town.

More than 300 vigilantes took part in a revenge rampage on the town of Huwara, setting fire to 75 homes and more than 100 cars in response to a Palestinian terrorist attack that killed two Israelis the same day in the town.

Video documentation showed large parts of Huwara burning, with Israeli soldiers having to rescue a Palestinian family whose house had been set on fire while they were inside. The IDF said it treated the attacks as terrorism.

In addition to setting homes and cars ablaze, a 37-yearold Palestinian man was killed and two others were shot and wounded. Another person was stabbed and one was beaten with a metal bar. More than 100 Palestinians were injured in total. Video shows settlers davening after the riot, as flames engulf cars and buildings.

“This was a pogrom by outlaws, said Maj-Gen Yehuda Fuchs, commanding o cer of the IDF Central Command. “We were not prepared for that amount of people and the extent and intensity of the violence they demonstrated. This was a bad incident that was not meant to happen. I was meant to have prevented it.”

According to Israeli journalists on the ground, it took Continued on pages 2 & 3

Continued from page one it took some five hours for the IDF to disperse the mob, which had begun marching at around 6pm from Tapuach junction in the West Bank to Huwara.

The IDF was widely criticised for failing to stop the march, which had been announced earlier in the day on social media, with clear intentions of seeking revenge.

IDF chief of staff Herzl Halevi said: “The grave events of lawlessness in Huwara after the severe attack will be thoroughly investigated.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog both condemned the attacks in Huwara. “I strongly condemn the cruel and violent rampage against the residents of Huwara,” Herzog said. “This is not our way. It is criminal violence against innocents.”

Six people were arrested yesterday by Israeli police, all suspects of taking part in the terrorist attacks.

The Huwara rampage was carried out by settlers who sought revenge for the attack that killed Hallel Yaniv, 21 and Yagel Yaniv, 19 (pictured top right), in the town on Sunday. The brothers were killed by a Palestinian who shot them while they were in their car.

The terrorist fled the scene, leading to a widescale manhunt by Israeli security forces.

Hallel and Yagel were resident of the West

Bank settlement of Har Bracha. A family member said “a massive hole” was left in their heart that would never be filled. Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad praised the attack, calling it