JERUSALEM (JTA) — Residents from the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar attacked a local Palestinian village after the arrest of several Yitzhar residents.
The far-right settlers reportedly threw rocks in the window of a Palestinian home and tried to set fields on fire.
The attacks came Thursday following the early-morning detention of 11 Yitzhar residents suspected of involvement in attacks on neighboring Palestinians in response to the 10-month construction freeze on West Bank Jewish settlements. Most of the arrested settlers, including leaders of the Yitzhar community, were released shortly after their detentions.
Also Thursday in Yitzhar, police and civil administration inspectors tried to confiscate a bulldozer used in illegal construction in violation of the freeze. Four residents protesting the action were arrested after throwing rocks at a policeman. The confiscation came following a stop-work order issued last week. The community says the building project is legal.
Yitzhar residents and Israeli security services have clashed in recent weeks over an apparent rightist settler "price-tag" policy of retribution against Palestinians for the construction freeze.
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