Israeli settler who took part in brutal assault on Palestinians released from house arrest

An Israeli settler who took part in a brutal attack in which a Palestinian man was stripped naked, had his genitals bound with a zip-tie and was paraded in front of his family has been released from house arrest.

The Israeli army said in a statement on Monday that Tal Yinon Dardik, who reportedly took part in the 13 March attack on the Palestinian community of Khirbet Humsa in the occupied West Bank, was being freed from house arrest but would have to report to a police station twice a day.

The army said that the decision came after the Jerusalem District Court ruled that the location of his house arrest was untenable.

According to reports, Dardik had been staying at his mother-in-law's house in the central West Bank settlement of Adei Ad, but the court found that the order was not workable as she did not want him in the house.

Dardik, who became the focus of a campaign by settler activists and right-wing politicians, had denied taking part in the attack when settlers stormed the community before dawn, restrained several Palestinian residents, including women, children and the elderly, and beat them.

One of those attacked, 29-year-old Qusai Abu al-Kebash, said the settlers stripped him, tied his arms and legs, fastened a zip-tie around his genitals and paraded him around the village.

An American activist, who was present at the time of the assault, said that she was "swarmed" upon by "six masked Israeli settlers armed with heavy wooden sticks," as she slept in a tent.

"They immediately beat the three of us to the ground, smashing our faces with their fists and clubs," the activist told Haaretz earlier this year.

"They zip-tied our hands and feet, and were yelling things like, 'We are going to kill you!'"

The activist said that the during the course of the attack, the settlers "pulled down the Palestinian man's pants, poured water all over him and brutally beat him into the dirt".

"All he could do was curl into a fetal position and scream when they beat him with their clubs," she added.

Clothes ripped

Several other residents told Haaretz that the assault lasted about an hour and involved dozens of masked settlers.

A woman who was there said she was beaten and dragged outside before her head covering was torn off and some of her clothes ripped.

"They pulled the girls out and beat them, even the little ones. They mocked us and celebrated our humiliation," she told Haaretz.

Meanwhile, a 74-year-old resident said three attackers repeatedly hit him on his head, hands and stomach while another destroyed security cameras, a router and lights.

Following the attack, Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz repeatedly criticised the restrictions imposed on Dardik and ordered officials not to renew his detention.

Katz also visited Dardik in prison last month, when the settler was reportedly on hunger strike.

Katz later threatened to replace Major General Avi Bluth, the head of the military’s Central Command, after Bluth appealed against a ruling that would have allowed Dardik to serve his house arrest at his preferred location.

Katz subsequently backed away from the threat following an outcry.

More than 700,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the International Court of Justice.

According to UN data, settler attacks on Palestinian herding communities have increased sharply in recent years with at least 5,910 Palestinians internally displaced due to settler violence between January 2023 and April 2026.