According to the announcement, a team of soldiers tried to prevent settlers from Ytzhar from entering the Palestinian village of Madma. The team asked the settlers to leave the area after presenting documents to them declaring the area a closed military zone.
The young settlers refused to leave and started quarreling with the soldiers. Soon after, a larger group of youth from Ytzhar came to the area and started throwing stones at the soldiers. One serviceman suffered light wounds in this incident and the tires of a military vehicle were slashed, the announcement said.
According to a report by Arutz Sheva, a news Web site and radio station associated with the Israeli religious right, the Ytzhar settlers claimed that the IDF used live ammunition during the clash. The IDF denied the allegations.
The settlement of Ytzhar is considered to be an ideologically extreme settlement, with residents having been involved in violent acts against Palestinians and security forces in the past. Instances of uprooting olive trees of Palestinians in nearby villages or preventing them from cultivating their fields have been attributed to settlers from Ytzhar.
The Israeli settlements in the West Bank are varied in nature. While some settlements harbor strongly ideological groups, who see importance in strengthening the Jewish presence in what they call the land of the Bible, other cities and towns do not have a specific ideological background.
In response to this latest incident, the IDF stated that violence against soldiers is crossing a red line that must not be tolerated, and that the Israeli army will deal with this incident according to the law and with appropriate firmness.
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