Jewish Settlers Pepper Spray Israeli Soldiers in West Bank

A picture shows a view of the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank, on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem, August 4, 2022. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank, on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem, August 4, 2022. (AFP)
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Jewish Settlers Pepper Spray Israeli Soldiers in West Bank

A picture shows a view of the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank, on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem, August 4, 2022. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank, on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem, August 4, 2022. (AFP)

Jewish West Bank settlers stormed through a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said Thursday, throwing stones at Palestinian cars and using pepper spray on Israeli troops who were trying to disperse the settlers.

The settler rampage late Wednesday comes days after a similar incident in the same area and as Israeli-Palestinian tensions are surging over Israeli raids in the West Bank and an uptick in shooting attacks by Palestinians.

The rampage took place near Huwara, a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank near the city of Nablus, where a group of disaffected youth has taken up arms against Israel and in frustration with the Palestinian leadership’s close security ties to it, AFP reported.

Palestinian militants in the area have carried out several roadside shootings in recent weeks. The area is home to a number of hardline settlements, whose residents often intimidate Palestinians and vandalize their property.

Critics accuse Israel of turning a blind eye to settler violence against Palestinians and treating them with impunity, while being heavy-handed with Palestinian assailants or protesters. Settler violence has in the past also led to confrontations with soldiers which often sparks condemnations from politicians but rarely leads to a solution to the problem.

The military said dozens of settlers ran through the town, throwing rocks at Palestinian cars. The settlers used pepper spray on the battalion commander as well as another soldier. The settlers sprayed another two soldiers at a nearby checkpoint, the military said.

It was not immediately clear why the settlers were allowed to continue to another location after the initial incident.

In a statement, the military's chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, condemned the violence.

“This is a very serious incident that embodies shameful and disgraceful criminal behavior that demands strict and swift justice,” he said.

The violence comes as tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have surged in recent months.

More than 120 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the West Bank and east Jerusalem this year, making 2022 the deadliest year since 2015.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, territories the Palestinian seek for their future state.

Israel has since settled some 500,000 settlers in the West Bank in some 130 settlements.



Lebanese and Palestinians Leaders Agree That Lebanon Won’t Be Used as a Launchpad to Strike Israel

This handout picture released by the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) welcoming his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas at the Baabda presidential palace, east of the capital Beirut, on May 21, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency / Handout / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) welcoming his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas at the Baabda presidential palace, east of the capital Beirut, on May 21, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency / Handout / AFP)
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Lebanese and Palestinians Leaders Agree That Lebanon Won’t Be Used as a Launchpad to Strike Israel

This handout picture released by the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) welcoming his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas at the Baabda presidential palace, east of the capital Beirut, on May 21, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency / Handout / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) welcoming his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas at the Baabda presidential palace, east of the capital Beirut, on May 21, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency / Handout / AFP)

The Lebanese and Palestinian presidents agreed Wednesday that Palestinian factions won't use Lebanon as a launchpad for any attacks against Israel, and to remove weapons that aren't under the authority of the Lebanese state.

The announcement was made during a meeting between President Joseph Aoun and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who arrived earlier in the day beginning a three-day visit to Lebanon, his first in seven years.

Lebanon's government is seeking to establish authority throughout the country, mainly in the south near the border with Israel after the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war that ended in late November with a US-brokered ceasefire.

The 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon aren't under the control of the Lebanese state, and Palestinian factions in the camps have different types of weapons. Rival groups have clashed inside the camps in recent years, inflicting casualties and affecting nearby areas.

It wasn't immediately clear how the weapons would be removed from the camps, which are home to tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them descendants of families that fled to Lebanon after Israel was created in 1948.

Abbas' Fatah movement and the Hamas group are the main factions in the camps. Smaller groups also have a presence in the camps — mainly in Ein el-Hilweh, which is Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp and located near the southern port city of Sidon.

A joint statement read by the Lebanese presidency's spokeswoman, Najat Sharafeddine, said that both sides have agreed that weapons should only be with the Lebanese state, and the existence of “weapons outside the control of the Lebanese state has ended.”

The statement said that both sides have agreed that Palestinian camps in Lebanon aren't “safe havens for extremist groups.” It added that “the Palestinian side confirms its commitment of not using Lebanese territories to launch any military operations.”

In late March, Israel intensified its airstrikes on Lebanon in response to Hamas allegedly firing rockets at northern Israel from southern Lebanon.

Shortly after the wave of airstrikes, the Lebanese government for the first time called out the Palestinian group and arrested nearly 10 suspects involved in the operation. Hamas was pressured by the military to turn in three of their gunmen from different refugee camps.

The nearly 400,000 Palestinians in Lebanon are prohibited from working in many professional jobs, have few legal protections and can't own property.