IDF, Shin Bet arrest eight Palestinians suspected of assaulting Israelis in West Bank village

The Israeli military and the Shin Bet security agency announced Friday the arrest of eight Palestinians in the West Bank village of Mukhmas. They are suspected of chasing and assaulting Israeli civilians during an incident that occurred on Thursday. The arrests were made by the IDF's Duvdevan unit, acting on intelligence from the Shin Bet.

The incident reportedly began when several Israeli Breslov hassidim allegedly fled from Israel Police after their vehicle was observed driving erratically. The group then sought refuge in Mukhmas, a Palestinian village, where they contacted Israeli security forces claiming Palestinians had surrounded their vehicle and were throwing stones. IDF commandos and a combat helicopter were dispatched to the scene, initially fearing a kidnapping attempt. The group was located and rescued, and subsequent searches ruled out a security-related incident.

In a separate development, Israeli police arrested a resident of the West Bank town of Tarqumiyah on Thursday. This individual is suspected of involvement in the criminally motivated kidnapping of an IDF soldier last week. The suspect, identified by Ynet as 49-year-old Walid Farouk, is reportedly a member of the Palestinian Security Services. He and another individual are believed to have kidnapped the soldier from Beersheba before transporting them to the West Bank, where the soldier was allegedly blindfolded and physically harmed. The soldier was eventually rescued from Tarqumiyah by Judea and Samaria Police.