Three police officers and some 15 demonstrators were wounded during a police raid in the Judea and Samaria town of Yitzhar on Sunday night.
“Dozens of young men rioted and used severe violence, including throwing rocks, paint bottles and other objects” at officers, the Israel Police said in a statement, according to The Times of Israel. In addition to the injuries suffered by the officers, several police vehicles were also damaged, according to the statement.
Security forces had entered Yitzhar to arrest Neriah Zarog, 21, who was wanted for disobeying an administrative order issued in September barring him from the area for three months. Area residents have clashed with Palestinians and Israeli troops several times in the past.
Upon entering Zarog’s house, security forces found him chained to “a heavy metal object,” according to Israel’s Kan public broadcaster. Police used power tools to cut him free and placed him under arrest, according to the report.
During the raid, several hundred locals reportedly gathered, and clashes broke out.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement in response to the incident, calling for “the law to be respected and for an immediate halt to violence against security forces.”
Violations of the law, he said, will not be tolerated; Israel Defense Forces and Border Police officers “must be allowed to carry out their work.”
