The majority of reports about Jewish “settler” violence against Palestinians are distortions or outright lies, with an incident that occurred overnight Wednesday an apt example of the disturbing phenomenon that dominates international headlines and endangers Jews worldwide.

Palestinians claimed that “settler militias” entered a village near Chevron overnight Wednesday and tried to murder residents by deliberately setting fire to a residential building. When IDF officials arrived to investigate the report, residents claimed that they heard “Jews shouting in Hebrew” before the fire.

Of course, international and left-wing Israeli media outlets immediately and gleefully reported the story as fact.

However, an investigation by the Yehuda and Shomron Fire and Rescue Service and forensic investigators from Israel Police ruled out arson, determining that the fire broke out due to an electrical fault, and no traces of an accelerant were found. In addition, the investigation found that no Jews had entered the village overnight.

The initial report was received this morning by the Yehuda and Shomron District Police, alleging that the residential building had been set on fire during the night. In response, officers from the Chevron police station arrived at the scene, along with a forensic investigator from the Yehuda and Shomron District and a fire investigator from the Yehuda and Shomron District Fire and Rescue Service.

The investigators entered deep into the area under IDF protection, collected numerous findings at the scene, and examined the source of the blaze.

At the conclusion of the investigation, it was determined that an electrical short circuit at the site had caused the fire, and no traces of an accelerant were found at the scene. These findings ruled out the residents’ claim that the fire was deliberately set by Israelis.

The claim that Jews had entered the area during the night was also not supported by any evidence found during the investigation. The findings of the police and Fire and Rescue Service investigators contradicted the initial account given regarding the circumstances of the fire.

The arson claim was not the only false allegation spread by Palestinians on Thursday. They also claimed that an elderly woman and a teenage girl were wounded by shrapnel from IDF gunfire overnight in a village near Shechem.

The IDF clarified that Arabs from the village had hurled stones at IDF soldiers, who responded by firing into the air to disperse them. The two females were not physically injured in the confrontation sparked by their fellow villagers but were treated for shock.

 

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)