Israel’s defense minister condemned the settlers’ behavior and promised to take action, although Palestinians say they are skeptical of Israel’s willingness to keep those promises.
The group of settlers, who according to local reports were celebrating the release from prison of a man convicted of assaulting Palestinians, threw rocks through windows of businesses and vehicles, injuring at least one person.
“Last night there was a march of settlers from Zaatara towards Huwwara driving their cars. They attacked houses, shops and cars,” Huwwara’s mayor, Mueen Al Dmeidi, told DailyExpertNews.
The Israeli military confirmed the incident Monday and said in a statement that a confrontation broke out between Israelis and Palestinians in the village of Huwwara, south of Nablus.
“The confrontation started when some Israeli civilians drove into the village and threw stones, causing significant damage to businesses and vehicles,” the military statement said.
A widely circulated video shows two men throwing rocks at a parked car before getting back into their own car and rejoining the convoy.
A 17-year-old Palestinian was injured, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, while other reports suggest at least three people were injured.
The incident prompted Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz to promise tough measures against what he called “nationalistically motivated violence.”
In a statement Monday, Gantz said anyone who throws rocks or sets cars on fire “is a terrorist and will be treated as such.”
He continued: “I have recently initiated several meetings to discuss this matter, and we are currently at the height of the process of strengthening our forces on the ground, building troops with the police and (internal intelligence) , and to establish operational and legal proceedings in relation to such incidents.”
Israeli officials have made similar statements promising to take action against settler attacks in recent months, but human rights groups say the military does not intervene very often. The army, for its part, says it is committed to the safety of all residents of relevant areas.
An Israeli police spokesman told DailyExpertNews that no arrests had been made in relation to the incident, but said the matter is still under investigation. The Palestinian mayor of Huwwara, Al Dmeidi, told DailyExpertNews he was skeptical that any perpetrators would be punished.
“Imagine if the opposite had happened and it was the Palestinians who attacked Israelis,” he said, adding: “There would have been a massacre against the Palestinians. You would have seen dead Palestinians, while the whole world would have talked about the poor Israeli victims.”
The incident in Huwwara comes just days after settlers attacked a group of Israeli peace activists in the nearby West Bank village of Burin on Friday.
In that incident, also videoed and widely shared, a group of about a dozen masked settlers attacked a group of Israeli anti-occupation activists and Palestinians with stones and clubs, setting one of their cars on fire.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 10 of the activists who had helped Palestinian farmers plant trees were injured in the attack.
Mike Schwartz of DailyExpertNews contributed to this report.
