The IDF and the Shin Bet pressed Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday to restore administrative detention of violent Jewish extremists, after dozens undertook attacks on soldiers and Palestinians in three separate terrorism incidents.

According to the IDF, overnight, it sent troops to disband an outpost near the Palestinian village of Beit Furik in the northern West Bank. Outposts are illegal under Israeli law.

The extremist settlers there resisted the removal, throwing rocks at soldiers and wounding two. Some entered the town, carried out arson attacks, and threw rocks at property. In Huwara, the assailants committed arson attacks and threw rocks as well.
Palestinian media said that settlers targeted a house under construction, a grocery store, and a car. Reports added that a house in Huwara was targeted, its windows shattered and Molotov cocktails thrown inside, setting the structure aflame. Two vehicles were burned as well. According to the reports, residents were inside the house at the time.

These reports could not be independently verified, and by press time, there were no verified reports of injuries.

View of a burnt Palestinian car after it was set on fire by settlers in the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus in the West Bank, December 4, 2024 (credit: NASSER ISHTAYEH/FLASH90)
View of a burnt Palestinian car after it was set on fire by settlers in the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus in the West Bank, December 4, 2024 (credit: NASSER ISHTAYEH/FLASH90)
This is not the first time Huwara has seen intense violence from extremist settlers. Last February, hundreds attacked the town in what became the worst settler violence attack in decades. Homes were set on fire, about 100 residents were injured, and one person died from wounds sustained during the attack. Earlier in the day, two Israelis – Hillel and Yigal Yaniv – were killed in a terrorist shooting attack as they were driving through Huwara.
As Israelis who live in the area must drive through Huwara without a wraparound road, it has been a hotbed of tension and violence for years. It is unclear how and why the army allowed this and didn’t stop the extremists from getting anywhere near the town.
Near the Palestinian village Rujeib, another 20 assailants gathered to cause additional disturbances, but in this case, troops arrived in time to stop them, which led to altercations between the groups.
The IDF said that dozens were arrested, and added that it views such incidents with “great severity” and will work to combat them.

Levied against the IDF is the claim by rights groups that it doesn’t have the manpower to properly stem these attacks and doesn’t do enough to stop them when they do happen.

Settler attacks have been on the rise since 2022 and have seen a particular rise since the Israel-Hamas War.

Katz cancels detention order

Despite what the IDF said, Katz recently canceled the use of administrative detention against Jews, a method used by the Shin Bet to attempt to gather intelligence and extract information from extremists in these circles, to detain ring leaders and avoid attacks.
Immediately following Katz’s decision, there were a notable number of attacks by Jewish extremists on IDF commanders and on Palestinians.
Both the IDF and Shin Bet have made it clear that they view Katz’s decision as dangerous and as giving an opening to extremists to carry out further violence, as occurred on Wednesday.
Questioned about whether Katz would reconsider his cancellation of administrative detention for violent extremist Jews, a spokesman for Katz doubled down, pushing back on the idea that it is acceptable to throw Jews in administrative detention merely for stone-throwing, which does not cause serious harm when they can be prosecuted in regular criminal proceedings.

The Jerusalem Post pointed out that law enforcement and the Shin Bet have argued that criminally prosecuting most extremist Jews in these cases of violence in the West Bank is not realistic.  

They have said that given that most Jews involved cover their faces to hide their identities and that the IDF is currently prohibited from shooting at their legs to prevent them from escaping, the vast majority of Jewish extremists regularly escape apprehension during such incidents.

The two law enforcement agencies have also said that the only true way to identify many of these extremists is by using various hi-tech and classified Shin Bet spying tools, which are not usable for evidence in criminal proceedings, or using Jewish undercover spies, whose testimony in court would blow their cover and put them in mortal danger.
Rather, the security forces have said that administrative detention for a few months is a way to cool down, deter, and prevent such attackers from carrying out such crimes by using intelligence evidence against them, which is iron-tight but simply cannot be used in criminal proceedings.
While the use of administrative detention against Jewish extremists has increased since the war started, the numbers still usually remain in the single digits, whereas several thousand Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention since the war started.

Administrative detention is a legal tool that has been long subject to criticism – globally for its use on Palestinians, and domestically for its use on Jews – as being a draconian measure that most democracies don’t use.

Katz's spokesman continued to hold the line, saying that police have many of the tools that the Shin Bet has, and maintained that the police could use these tools to bring cases in regular criminal proceedings.

Moreover, it is misleading to say that there has been a statistical jump in Jewish extremist violence since Katz canceled administrative detention for Jews, saying that a small number of high-profile cases in the news did not prove a broader problematic trend.
Sources in the defense establishment said that it is too soon after Katz’s order to say whether there is a clear trend of growth in violence. What has become clear though, they said, is that direct and indirect support from public officials for some of the extremists’ actions has given them the confidence to increase the size and frequency of violent actions.