Israeli agents arrest three suspects after settler violence

Tel Aviv, Jun. 23, (dpa/GNA) – Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence service has arrested three suspects in the wake of massive riots by Israeli settlers that targeted Palestinians, local media reported on Friday.

The unrest followed an attack in the West Bank on Tuesday in which two Palestinian militants shot dead four Israelis. According to the news website ynet, settlers set up seven new outposts in response.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already announced the accelerated construction of some 1,000 homes in the region after the violence.

“Our response to terror is to fight it with all our might, and to build our country,” a statement from his office said.

The US ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, criticized the settlers who set fire to dozens of vehicles and homes. The United States would not stand idly by and watch such violence, Nides said.

At the same time, he expressed his condolences to the families of the victims of the attack.

At a meeting in Egypt in March, the Israelis and Palestinians had agreed to suspend “unilateral measures” for three to six months.

According to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Israel committed not to hold talks on building new settlements in the West Bank for four months and not to authorize new outposts for six months.

Israel took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, among other territories, during the Six-Day War in 1967. Nearly 600,000 Israelis live there today in more than 200 settlements.

In 2016, the UN Security Council described these settlements as a violation of international law and called on Israel to stop all settlement activities.

The Palestinians in turn want to establish their own state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

GNA