Senior commander of the Israeli military described violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers in Hawara, Palestinian town on Sunday night as “a pogrom”.
Major General Yossi Fuss, who is responsible for West Bank operations, acknowledged that his soldiers were caught off guard by how large the rampage.
After the murder of two Jewish men, 400 Jewish settlers marched onto Hawara. In fear for their lives, they set fire to cars and houses and had to rescue many families from the Gaza Strip.
Pogrom is a highly emotive term that has significant meaning for Israelis. It refers to violence against Jews in extreme, organised fashion in Russia in the 19th century.
Sky News has learned that there was genuine outrage at the scene in Israeli military headquarters on Sunday. Sources claimed they were horrified by the scenes and called it “disgraceful”.
Israelis have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds through an online fundraising page to aid the Palestinian victims of Sunday’s violence.
International condemnation was strong. The EU stated that it was “highly concerned” by the spiralling violence and the US Special Representative to Palestine Affairs visited the victims. The violence has been condemned by many large Jewish-American organizations.
Elan Ganeles, a 26-year old American-Israeli citizen was the victim of Monday’s attack in West Bank.
He was shot near Jericho at a road intersection.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, (IDF), multiple gunmen opened fire on the vehicle.
Two additional vehicles bearing Israeli number plates were also attacked shortly thereafter, but no injuries were reported.
They set fire to their vehicle, then fled on foot. To catch them, roadblocks were set up.
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