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Photo:
Yehuda Dimantman, 20. Credit: Yehuda Dimentman
Published by Haaretz and IMEMC News
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by IMEMC News
Dec 17, 2021

An Israeli colonialist settler was killed, on Thursday at night, in a shooting attack near the evacuated Homesh colonialist outpost, built on Palestinian lands north of Nablus, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.

Israeli sources said the young man has been identified as Yehuda Dimantman, 20, and added that he was with two of his friends, driving from a Yeshiva when their car came under fire near Homesh.

They stated that Yehuda was a Yeshiva student who lived in the Shavei Shomron colony and added his two friends were mildly injured.

After the shooting, the medics rushed to the scene and tried to revive Yehuda but had to pronounce his death due to his serious wounds.

Hundreds of Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene, closed many roadblocks in the area, including Huwwara, Jeet, and Beit Forik, in addition to installing many roadblocks in the area, in an attempt to locate the shooters.

Israeli sources said the Israeli Shin Bet security agency also joined the search and investigation.

While the Hamas movement did not claim responsibility for the shooting, it praised the attack, and described it as a “heroic operation against the illegal Israeli occupation and its murderous settlers.”

It is worth mentioning that the Israeli army and the security agency said they managed to pinpoint the location where the Palestinians opened fire at the car and added that they [the Palestinian shooters] stood near the road and fired nearly ten live rounds at the car while it was leaving the area and said that the efforts to capture the shooters are ongoing.

The Israeli army deployed dozens of soldiers in the area and initiated a massive search campaign.

On Thursday evening, a group of illegal Israeli colonizers attacked many Palestinian cars and closed a main road, east of Hebron city, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.

It is worth mentioning that Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinians, including a child, in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of this month.

On December 12, 2021, the soldiers killed Jamil Mohammad al-Kayyal, 31, after the army invaded Nablus.

On December 10, 2021, the soldiers killed Jamil Abu Ayyash, 31, during the weekly protest against the illegal Israeli colonies in Beita town, southeast of Nablus.

On December 6, 2021, the soldiers killed a child, Mohammad Nidal Younis, 15, at a military roadblock near Tulkarem, in the northern part of the West Bank, after the army claimed he intentionally rammed his car into the roadblock.

On December 04, 2021, the soldiers Mohammad Shawkat Salima, 25, after he stabbed an Israeli settler in occupied Jerusalem, in the West Bank.
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Palestinians Ambushed Car in Deadly West Bank Attack, Fired at Least 10 Shots, Israeli Military Says

Shooting near settler outpost killed 25-year-old Israeli Yehuda Dimentman ■ Authorities search for perpetrators, who fled after opening fire at car

by Amos Harel, Hagar Shezaf and Jack Khoury
for Haaretz
Dec. 16, 2021

The fatal shooting attack in the West Bank on Thursday was an ambush in which the attackers laid in wait on the side of the road, the commander of the Israeli military's Judea and Samaria Division said.

Brig. Gen. Avi Blut said the military plans to boost forces in the West Bank with three infantry battalions, as well as special forces units.

Over 10 bullets were fired at a car during the attack near Homesh, which killed 25-year-old Yehuda Dimentman and wounded two other people. The perpetrators fled the scene, Blut said.

One of the two passengers wounded in the attack said that after leaving Homesh, "all of a sudden we heard a volley of bullets... Someone behind me was yelling that he was hit."

Dimentman "was my friend, he was a really good guy," he added. "We never feared a shooting incident. We didn't think it would happen."

Homesh, near where Thursday's attack took place, had its residents evicted as part of Israel's 2005 disengagement plan, and Israelis are banned from staying within its bounds. However, settlers frequent the spot and operate the Homesh Yeshiva, which in practice serves as an outpost, with yeshiva students moving between it and the nearest settlement, Shavei Shomron. Yossi Dagan, head of the Shomron Regional Council, has regularly voiced support for the yeshiva, and on Thursday, after the attack, he called for legalizing it.

Last month, Palestinians from the village of Burka were attacked by Israeli settlers while trying to work their land at the entrance to Homesh. Three of them were hit with rocks, sticks, and fists, and evacuated to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus with light head wounds. Video footage distributed by the Shomron Regional Council of settlements also showed Palestinians throwing rocks at settlers.

Condemning "Palestinian terror," Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev sent condolences to the family of the victim, who he said was a yeshiva student. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Benny Gantz vowed that security forces would capture the perpetrators.

Thursday's shooting came amid an uptick in violent attacks by Palestinians. Last week, a 14-year-old teen from East Jerusalem stabbed a 26-year-old Jewish resident of Sheikh Jarrah, a flash point neighborhood whose Palestinian residents face eviction orders.

Two days earlier a 16-year-old Palestinian crashed his car into a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Tul Karm, wounding an Israeli guard. The Palestinian teen was shot dead.

Three other attacks over the past weeks, all in Jerusalem, saw an Israeli man, 25-year-old Eliyahu Kay, shot dead, and two Border Police officers wounded. In all three cases, the Palestinian assailants were shot dead.
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Palestinian Suspects Arrested Over Deadly West Bank Ambush

The suspects opened fire on a vehicle near the former settlement of Homesh on Thursday, killing Yehuda Dimentman and wounding two other students

Jack Khoury, Amos Harel and Yaniv Kubovich for Haaretz
Dec 19, 2021

Six Palestinian suspects in the ambush that killed a 25-year-old Israeli yeshiva student were captured on Saturday overnight, two days after gunmen opened fire on the car the victim was driving in.

The two suspects accused of committing the shooting are brothers Omar and Rayat Jaradat, aged 20-and 17-years-old. They were arrested in their home in Silat al-Harithiya in the Jenin Governorate. Their uncle, Salah Jaradat, was a prominent Islamic Jihad member in Jenin who was killed by IDF fire in 2003.

According to IDF Spokesperson, six suspects were arrested in total, with four of them directly linked to the attack. They were found along with a stash of weapons, some of which were earmarked for other attacks, says the spokesperson.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett praised the capture of the suspects, especially the cooperation between different security branches and the speed of their arrests: "Every terrorist should know he is on borrowed time," he said.

Also in a statement issued Sunday morning, Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev congratulated the military on the successful arrest adding that "let it be known to every terrorist who hurt an Israeli citizen, the day will come, and you will meet security forces face to face. We will not succumb to terrorism."

The gunmen opened fire on a vehicle near the former settlement of Homesh, killing Yehuda Dimentman and wounding two other students, according to police.

On Sunday the Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of Islamic Jihad in Jenin claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was meant to avenge the death of Jamil Kayyal who was killed by Israeli security forces in Nablus last week.

Following the attack, hundreds came in armored buses to participate in Dimentman's funeral, with many from the congregation calling for revenge and the reestablishment of Homesh, whose residents were evicted and buildings demolished in 2005. Among the attendees were lawmakers from right-wing parties, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, Orit Strock, and Simcha Rothman of the hard-line Religious Zionism Party and Nir Barkat of Likud.

Barkat vowed an "iron fist against the Arab terrorists" and added that "our goal is to bring 2 million Jews here. We will settle everywhere in the Land of Israel."

Homesh, near where Thursday's attack took place, had its residents evicted as part of Israel's 2005 disengagement plan, and Israelis are banned from staying within its bounds. However, settlers frequent the spot and operate the Homesh Yeshiva, which in practice serves as an outpost, with yeshiva students moving between it and the nearest settlement of Shavei Shomron. Yossi Dagan, head of the Shomron Regional Council, has regularly voiced support for the yeshiva, and on Thursday, after the attack, he called for legalizing it.

Hours after the Dimentman's death, a Palestinian couple was attacked in their West Bank home by a group of settlers they said claimed to be Israeli soldiers in order to get inside. The attack left 55-year-old Wail Mohammed Makbal with fractured ribs, and his 46-year-old wife Samiha requiring medical attention after inhaling pepper spray.

That attack took place days after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett condemned Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev for criticizing setter violence in the West Bank and promising to tackle it.

Bennett dubbed settler violence an "insignificant phenomena" that should be dealt with. Moreover, he called to refrain from generalizing the whole community. "The settlers in [the West Bank] have been suffering from violence and terrorism, every day, for decades," Bennett said. "We must strengthen and support them, in words and actions."