Residents of the Givat Assaf community in Samaria objected to the IDF’s conduct toward them Sunday, after the defense establishment allegedly ignored a serious threat to the Jewish residents from Arab terrorists. 

The community, which has warned that the government has recently betrayed its position on recognizing it, received a report last Friday afternoon that Arabs from the nearby village of Burqa were planning a rock-throwing rampage against them. Security officials immediately informed the IDF of those plans. 

“We contacted a company commander in the region and demanded the [company] arrive here [to protect us],” residents told Arutz Sheva. “After five minutes, masked Arabs approached the road connecting the village of Givat Assaf to Route 60, and began throwing rocks.”

But military forces were hiding behind the jeeps they had traveled in, residents said, as “rioters threw rocks while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’.”

Despite this, “an officer at the scene asked residents to stay away from the site, arguing that they had everything under control,” reported the residents. “We asked the officer why they are not doing anything to stop the rioters, and in response we received shouts from the officer.” 

The rioters continued their move towards Givat Assaf, and managed to wound one bystander from the community. At this point, the residents decided to take the event management into their own hands, approached the Arabs and shouted at them, “waqf” (stop).

The rioters wandered a bit away but stopped at Route 60 and began throwing rocks at vehicles traveling on the road instead.

“The soldiers did not do anything,” the residents fumed. “The officer demanded immediate action, but the response was that we protected ourselves.”

Even then, the soldiers did little to stop the rock-throwing on 60 until the situation had escalated further. 

“Only after five minutes of throwing rocks undisturbed, and after they hit about 10 vehicles, did soldiers begin firing rubber bullets into the air and detering the rioters,” Givat Assaf residents said. They have demanded a full IDF investigation into events. 

The IDF said in response that “the incident will be investigated and the necessary lessons will be learned” from the event.