In the West Bank, the IDF conducts rare daytime arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem, Tubas, and nr. Nablus. Late in the evening, 2 IDF soldiers enter the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, violently beating and insulting a guard who asks them to remove their shoes. In Hebron, Jewish settlers brutally beat a 13- yr.-old Palestinian boy on his way home from school; the IDF observes but does not intervene. (OCHA, PCHR 12/16)
Israeli DM Barak orders government funding to be revoked from a yeshiva in Har Brakha settlement after the yeshiva’s head rabbi encourages his students to refuse orders to evacuate unauthorized settlement outposts. Meanwhile, the Israeli cabinet approves (21–5) changes to Israel’s map of national priority areas to include several isolated West Bank settlements, including several right-wing settlements (including Kiryat Arba and Keddumim) that have led protests against Netanyahu’s settlement freeze. These newly designated areas will be entitled to millions of dollars in additional government financing. (NYT, WT 12/14)