IDF to probe soldiers' conduct in West Bank's Kusra, investigate time taken to evacuate extremists

The IDF will investigate events in the West Bank village of Kusra, including why it took 48 hours to evacuate an illegal outpost and why troops did not carry out their duty. The probe will also examine the evacuation of Palestinian families on Thursday. Findings will be presented to Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.

The IDF will conduct a probe into the events that occurred in the West Bank village of Kusra over the past week, and the findings will be presented to Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, a representative of the military spokesperson confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Friday. "This was a serious incident, and it will be investigated," the representative said. According to a report published by N12, the investigation will cover, among other things, why it took soldiers 48 hours to initially evacuate the illegal outpost set up by extremist settlers, and why it took an additional day to remove the outpost a second time after the extremists returned. Additionally, the IDF will probe the conduct of troops who were reportedly sent to evacuate the outpost but didn't carry out their duty. According to N12, the IDF will also look into the manner in which the Palestinian families of the town were evacuated on Thursday after being instructed to leave. The chaos in Kusra began on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, dozens of settler extremists clashed with IDF forces after security forces evacuated one of the outposts. Footage seen by The Jerusalem Post showed extremists dismantling fences, blocking roads, and surrounding the area. Since then, settler leaders, including the heads of the Yesha Council and Beit El Council, publicly denounced the violence occurring, warning that it was seriously damaging to Israel and the settlement movement. Yisrael Ganz, chairman of the Yesha Council and head of the Binyamin Regional Council, said there was no justification for violence against Palestinians or Israeli security forces. "The events in Kusra are serious and are not our way," Ganz said.