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Israelis routinely enter West Bank for hikes without military approval, IDF officer says

From Jerusalem Post · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • A senior IDF Central Command officer revealed that Israelis routinely enter the West Bank for hikes without military approval.
  • The IDF permits authorized hikes through a coordination process, but some unauthorized excursions occur.
  • The officer's comments follow a deadly terrorist attack on hikers in July, which highlighted coordination issues.

Israelis are frequently entering the West Bank for hikes without obtaining the necessary military approval, according to a senior officer in the IDF Central Command. The officer stated that some of these hikes are neither approved nor coordinated, with the military only becoming aware of them after they have taken place.

Some [hikes] are not approved and not coordinated. We only learn about some of them after the fact.

— Senior IDF Central Command officerDescribing the frequency of unauthorized Israeli hikes in the West Bank.

While dozens of hikes are conducted with IDF authorization and coordination, the officer acknowledged that unauthorized excursions occur. This issue arises amid heightened tensions in the West Bank, concerns about potential terrorist attacks, and increasing friction between Israelis and Palestinians in the region.

The IDF today allows any hike to take place anywhere [in areas under Israeli security and civilian control], through coordination and a very orderly process, which is an operational process, full coordination of the hiking route and procedures with the regional brigade in the Judea and Samaria Division, carried out under the hike approval procedure.

— Senior IDF Central Command officerExplaining the standard IDF procedure for approving and coordinating hikes.

The IDF has a process for permitting hikes in areas under Israeli security and civilian control, requiring coordination of routes and procedures with regional brigades. However, the recent terrorist attack on July 24, which killed two soldiers and injured civilians near the Palestinian village of Tal, underscored the challenges in ensuring full adherence to these protocols.

According to the operations branch, there was some awareness that a hike was planned in the area, and I emphasize some, because it was nothing beyond that, during the late night hours.

— Senior IDF Central Command officerDetailing the IDF's limited awareness of the planned hike prior to the July 24 terrorist attack.

In the aftermath of that attack, an investigation revealed that the hike had not been coordinated or approved by the IDF. The brigade had attempted to gather information about the planned hike but encountered a lack of cooperation from organizers regarding details of the route and participants. This lack of clarity complicated the IDF's ability to provide adequate security, even though there was some awareness that a hike was planned in the area.

There was an attempt by the brigade to clarify what was involved, which encountered a lack of cooperation in obtaining details about the organizers and the hiking route. We obviously had difficulty understanding what was being planned.

— Senior IDF Central Command officerDescribing the difficulties in obtaining information about the uncoordinated hike.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Jerusalem Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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