During an Arab riot in the village of ‘Urif near Yitzhar, in Samaria, an IDF officer fired at an Arab youth who had physically assaulted one of the soldiers, endangering his life.
The incident began as part of the disturbances that Arabs have been carrying out in and around the village of ‘Urif in recent months, during which they march up the mountain towards one of the Yitzhar hills. On Thursday morning, some 15 Arabs from ‘Urif marched menacingly towards the settlement.
Israeli residents who were in the area descended at the Arabs in order to push them away, and a confrontation ensued.
Security forces arrived at the scene, and while a Border Police unit moved the settlers back toward Yitzhar, IDF Paratroopers Brigade soldiers moved in to push back the Arabs.
The IDF force tried to talk to the rioters, ordering them to return to their village, but quickly dozens of Arabs began attacking the soldiers, throwing rocks at them at close range.
One of the rioters risked the life of an officer, who shot and wounded him.
Yitzhar settlers completely support the force’s version of Thursday’s event, and demand that the security forces in the future prevent precarious marches moving for their town before those get started.
“The soldiers keep us safe on a daily basis, and at this event they were in real danger to their lives, we support the officer who acted accordingly,” said Uriah Cohen, chairman of the settlement secretariat.”
“However, one event pursues another, a procession follows another, endangering the lives of the residents and the soldiers,” Cohen added. “Our expectation is that the defense establishment would act against the [hostile] village in a deterrent fashion, to prevent such disturbances before they erupt.”
The first step is to issue a closed military zone order on the outskirts of the [‘Urif] village and the area in which the Arabs of the village riot on an almost daily basis,” he stated.