Palestinian Authority Arabs beat a group of Jews for two hours on Tuesday before the IDF arrived at a PA village to rescue them following violent clashes between both sides.
A few facts in the clash are clear. Border Police arrived at the Esh Kodesh outpost in Samaria to uproot an olive grove, and a stone-throwing fight developed between Jews and Arabs, who have been at constant war with the Esh Kodesh residents in recent years.
It also is known that the IDF rescued the Jews from a house under construction at the Arab village of Ousra.
The Arabs said they chased after the Jews, who allegedly throw rocks at Arab farmers and fled to the unfinished Arab house, where they were overpowered by the villagers.
One Arab admitted to Reuters that Arabs savagely beat 15 Jews with fists and sticks, some of them bleeding profusely, until the IDF arrived to rescue them from the attackers.
A resident of Esh Kodesh said they fled from the Arab rock throwers, but Ousra villagers accused the Jews of a “price tag” attack following the Border Police action. They gave no details of the alleged attack.
The IDF told The Jewish Press, “The Border Police carried out an order at Esh Kodesh, and Jews and Arabs started throwing rocks at each other. There were some injuries.”
It did not confirm or deny the rescue operation and had no knowledge of a “price tag” attack.
Israel radio interviewed one of the Esh Kodesh victims, who said a group of Jew were walking on a road when an Arab mob attacked them with rocks. The Jews then ran away to the unfinished house and called the IDF. Before the soldiers arrived, the Jews were beaten, one of them unconscious.
It is clear that land was the spark that set off the clash.
The Palestinian Authority claims all of the land in Judea and Samaria, especially that in “outposts” that have not been approved by the Defense Ministry.
The Obama administration considers Jews in all of Judea and Samaria and most of Jerusalem as “illegitimate,” regardless of whether they live on an outpost or in the Ramot or Gilo neighborhoods of Jerusalem. The result of bloated Arab expectations and an army policy of “let’s not disturb the peace process” has been the recent escalation of terror and violence, especially over land.
On Monday, Arabs clashed with Jews who were farming their land on the Mitzpeh Yair outpost in the southern Hebron Hills. Three of the Jews were hospitalized after having been beaten by the Arabs.