Israeli forces arrest 5 Jewish settlers for rioting in West Bank

Jerusalem, Nov 24 (IANS) The Israeli military and police arrested five Israeli settlers for rioting near the Jewish settlement of Itamar in the West Bank, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

The arrests were made after dozens of Israeli settlers, some of whom were masked, instigated a violent riot, "hurling stones towards the IDF and Israel Border Police forces who arrived at the scene," the statement said on Saturday.

During the incident, a soldier was punched by one of the rioters, reports Xinhua, quoting Israel's state-owned Kan TV News.

On Friday, five other Israeli settlers were arrested after they tried to attack Commander of the IDF's Central Command Avi Bluth and accompanying soldiers in the city of Hebron, southern West Bank.

Jewish extremist settlers occasionally clash with Israeli security forces in the West Bank to protest actions or policies they see as favouring Palestinians, such as the evacuation of illegal Jewish outposts or the arrest and expulsion of rioters from the area.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Saturday condemned the attempted attack, stating that "harming IDF commanders and soldiers, who dedicate their lives to the security of Israel and its citizens, is an attack on the entire country."

He added, "I expect law enforcement authorities to bring those involved in the incident to justice without delay and call on the settlement leadership to condemn such phenomena strongly."

This incident occurred a few hours after Katz announced the cessation of the issuance of administrative detention warrants against Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

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