West Bank Settler Protests After Reservist Detained by PA

Residents of the Dolev-Talmonim settlement bloc held a protest march Monday evening through the Palestinian village of Ein Qiniya, following an incident the previous night in which an Israeli reservist was allegedly assaulted and detained by Palestinian Authority police. After Israeli police stopped the protesters' vehicles, participants continued on foot to hold evening prayers inside the village.

The demonstration followed an account by Shlomo Rozental, a member of a local security response team and IDF reservist, who described being stopped at the Bitunia junction during a late-night drive from Dolev toward Route 433. Rozental said he initially mistook the officers for Israeli police.

According to Rozental, the Palestinian officers demanded he surrender his weapon. When he refused, he says they attacked him with pepper spray and physically assaulted him with kicks and punches. He claims they confiscated his firearm, handcuffed him, and transported him in a police vehicle to a station in Ramallah. "I wasn't rescued, I was beaten and kidnapped to Ramallah," he told i24NEWS.

The Palestinian police subsequently contacted Israeli coordination officials and transferred Rozental to IDF custody. He said he was then taken to the police station in Modi'in Illit, where he attempted to file a complaint but encountered what he described as critical treatment regarding his entry into the area.