IDF: This week, IDF soldiers apprehended the three Palestinian police officers who were involved in setting up a roadblock in Area C near Beitunia, detaining and assaulting an Israeli civilian, while going beyond their authority to operate in those areas.

The police officers are currently being questioned by the security forces.

The Israeli security establishment defined the incident as "a serious breach of the mechanisms in place, which endangered the life of the Israeli civilian and involved the use of severe and excessive force against him."

The statement also noted that the PA police officers were in Area C in and acted in violation of the authority entrusted to them.

"The IDF maintains security coordination in accordance with the directives of the political echelon. At the same time, the IDF will not tolerate any deviation from established procedures."

The arrests follow the August incident in which Palestinian Authority police operated overnight in the heart of Area C, on the Beitunia bypass road in western Binyamin, despite being prohibited from operating there.

The officers detained an IDF reservist who was traveling on the road toward the Dolev-Talmonim bloc and even took his military-issued weapon.

Miraculously, the soldier was not seriously harmed.

An IDF investigation found that Palestinian Authority security forces set up a checkpoint that week in Area C in the Binyamin Region, where they are not authorized to operate, and unlawfully detained IDF reservist Shlomo Rosenthal as he travelled on the so-called "Strongholds Route." According to the investigation's findings, the security forces arrested Rosenthal, who was in civilian clothes, on their own initiative and only then handed him over to the IDF.

The findings disprove the initial version of the events, according to which the PA forces arrived to assist Rosenthal after he was assaulted due to immediate danger to him. The investigation supports the main points of Rosenthal's version, which he recounted to Arutz Sheva - Israel National News following the incident.

The incident occurred at the beginning of the week when Rosenthal left his home and traveled toward Route 443 via the "Strongholds Route." In an interview with Arutz Sheva - Israel National News, he said that when he reached the Beitunia Junction, he saw a police car and a roadblock, which he initially thought were Israeli. However, when he approached, the officers shouted that they were Palestinian Authority forces.

Rosenthal claims that the officers blocked his path, surrounded him, and subsequently attacked him. "At a certain point, one of them grabbed my arm, and when I was unable to defend myself, they all jumped on me, sprayed a can and a half of pepper spray at me, and kicked me in the face."

He also reported that after breaking his glasses and taking his phone, car keys, and gun, they removed him from the car, cuffed him, and placed him in their police car.

He rejected the initial claims that there was a gathering of Arabs at the scene from which the forces needed to rescue him.

From there, the officers drove for half an hour toward Ramallah until reaching the PA police station in the city. He said that he was not taken into the station and was later allowed to speak to an Israeli representative from COGAT, who told him that IDF forces would meet him. He was later transferred to IDF forces.

Rosenthal had already said at the time that reports claiming he had entered Palestinian territory and was rescued by Palestinian police officers were false. “That is a complete lie," he told Arutz Sheva, stressing that the Strongholds Route on which he was traveling is located in Area C and that he had driven on it before.