Israeli military releases settler suspect from house arrest but bans him from West Bank

The Israeli military has announced that Tal Yinnon Dardik, a settler suspected of involvement in a violent attack against Palestinians in March, has been released from house arrest but is prohibited from entering most of the West Bank. On Monday, Major General Avi Blot, head of the IDF Central Command, ordered that Dardik be restricted to the settlement of Modi'in Illit and barred from all other areas of the West Bank. According to the military, he is also required to report to a local police station twice a day. The decision follows a court ruling that rejected General Blot’s request to hold Dardik under house arrest at the illegal Havat Tzur outpost in the West Bank. Dardik had previously been staying with his mother-in-law in the Adei Ad settlement, but the court ruled this arrangement untenable after she requested he leave. Dardik is suspected of participating in extremist violence, including an attack on 13 March in the village of Khirbet Humsa. Reports indicate that settlers restrained Palestinians with plastic ties, stripped one man, bound his genitals with a zip tie, and paraded him through the village. Dardik denies any involvement. During General Blot’s efforts to restrict Dardik’s movements, Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered officials not to extend his administrative detention and instructed the military to find an alternative. Katz later claimed on television that he would fire General Blot, a statement that drew widespread criticism and which the minister subsequently attempted to walk back. Settler violence has increased in recent years, with near-daily attacks occurring across the West Bank, yet few suspects are arrested or charged. Critics accuse the Israeli government of ignoring or encouraging these incidents. Shin Bet data released earlier this year indicated that the number of Palestinians targeted in nationalist attacks in the West Bank was triple that of Jewish victims. The Israeli military recorded 867 incidents of nationalist crime and settler violence in 2025, compared to 682 in 2024.