Israeli police officer shoots 2 Jewish rioters as mobs torch cars and buildings in Palestinian villages

Two Israelis were shot and seriously wounded by an Israeli police officer amid riots in several Palestinian villages in Judea and Samaria overnight, Israeli media reported.

Dozens of extremist settler youth had entered Palestinian villages, torching cars and buildings and throwing stones in two main areas.

One wave of riots focused on the surroundings of the Israeli town of Shilo, just north of Ramallah, where attacks were reported in the nearby villages of Turmus Ayya, Sinjil, Ein Siniya, and along Route 60 close to the village of Luban a-Sharkiya.

The two rioters were shot in another area, near the Israeli settlement Ramat Gilad, which lies north of the city of Ariel.

According to Ynet News, dozens of masked youths had set fire to buildings and cars in the villages Funduq and Jinsafut, before clashes developed between them and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Border Police that were sent to quell the riots.

The police stated that a police officer and an IDF soldier were involved in the shooting incident. According to eyewitnesses cited by Ynet, they were chasing a group of rioters for several hundred meters.

When they caught up with them near Ramat Gilad, an argument developed, during which the police officer was attacked with pepper spray. The eyewitnesses claim that he then opened fire “indiscriminately,” also hitting the soldier who was with him.

While several bystanders were hit, most were treated by paramedics in the field, but two young men were hit and seriously wounded.

The police and the IDF military police opened an investigation into the incident, and the shooter was questioned and released to house arrest until the end of the week. In addition, he will be forbidden from entering police facilities for eight days as the investigation continues.

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel later condemned the riots, saying: “This is a difficult evening that will be thoroughly investigated.”

“The obvious must also be said. In the State of Israel, you don’t torch buildings and vehicles, and you don’t use pepper spray on the IDF. You simply don’t,” Arbel added.

The IDF stated that “security forces dispersed the rioters in the Funduq area in the Ephraim division. The commander of the Central Command, the commander of the Judea and Samaria Division and the head of the Civil Administration are expected to hold a preliminary investigation in the field tonight.”

The IDF also stated that troops quickly entered the other villages and dispersed the rioters there, arresting two of them. “The forces are working to identify and arrest those involved,” the IDF added.

Later Tuesday, the military reiterated that its forces "rushed" to the villages "upon receiving the reports." When they arrived, "citizens threw stones and attacked the security forces."

After inspecting the area, IDF Central Command head Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth stressed: "Any violent disorder harms security and the IDF will not allow it."

However, Israeli human rights organizations and Palestinian reports blamed the IDF for not acting more quickly and forcefully to prevent the violence.

According to Palestinian media reports, an 86-year-old man was hospitalized in Sinjil.

The riots come amid a highly tense security situation in the West Bank. The IDF has ramped up its security measures since the war started, and in recent months, the Palestinian Authority has also taken unprecedented measures to clamp down on terror and reestablish control in the Palestinian cities.

However, the release of hundreds of Palestinian terrorists and terror supporters from Israeli jails in the coming weeks as part of the ceasefire deal is expected to boost terror activity again.

The extremist settler group “Fighting for Life” later hinted that the riots were a reaction to the celebrations seen in several Palestinian towns as the released prisoners returned to their homes on Sunday.

The deal had given “a glimmer of light” to terrorists, the group said, calling for  “an offensive initiative in Judea and Samaria, to destroy their celebrations with an attack against the strongholds of the enemy in the villages and the cities, to eradicate terrorism, and expel them far from here.”

“The residents of Judea and Samaria and the entire people of Israel will not let this lawlessness continue, and if needed will come to spoil the celebration of the enemy by themselves,” the group warned.