Court upholds house arrest for settler accused of violent assault
The Jerusalem District Court on Sunday rejected an appeal by Major General Avi Bluth, head of the IDF Central Command, to prevent Tal Yinon Yahadrik from serving house arrest at his unauthorised West Bank outpost. The court affirmed that the administrative detention order issued by Bluth on 9 June was "justified, proportionate and reasonable," noting that Yahadrik poses a security risk. However, judges upheld a military court ruling that serving the detention at his mother-in-law's home in the Adei Ad settlement was impractical, as she refused to host him. Yahadrik insists on serving his house arrest at his home in the unauthorised Havat Tzufon agricultural outpost. While this location is closer to the site of a March attack on the Palestinian village of Khirbet Humsa, Bluth had previously opposed his return there. Yahadrik was moved to a prison cell in early July after allegedly violating his detention conditions multiple times. The legal aid organisation Honenu, representing the suspect, stated he has since been on a hunger strike. The court has given the IDF until 11:00 am on Tuesday to implement the ruling. Yahadrik is accused of involvement in a 13 March attack in Khirbet Humsa, where settlers allegedly bound Palestinians, stripped a man, and paraded him through the village with plastic zip ties around his genitals. Yahadrik denies participation. Defence Minister Israel Katz had previously ordered officials not to extend the detention, seeking an alternative solution. The case has sparked political tension, with Katz previously threatening to dismiss Bluth following right-wing backlash over the restrictions, a stance he later retracted after IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi confirmed Bluth would remain in his post. Settler violence in the West Bank has risen significantly, with the IDF recording 867 incidents of nationalist crime and settler violence in 2025, compared to 682 in 2024.