Israeli settler accused of abuse barred from most West Bank

The Israeli army said Monday it had banned Tal Yinon Dardik, a settler accused of sexually abusing a Palestinian, from most of the occupied West Bank.

West Bank commander Major General Avi Bluth issued an order barring Dardik from all of the territory except his settlement, where he must report to police twice daily, the army said.

A military statement said a court accepted the security services' position that Dardik poses a “significant danger” and that restrictions on him were “justified, proportionate and reasonable”.

Dardik is accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian when settlers attacked shepherds in a Bedouin village in March. Suheib Abu al-Kabsh, a local Bedouin, told AFP that 70 to 80 settlers descended from the mountains, forced residents into tents and stole 400 goats. He said settlers beat him, stripped him and dragged him by a plastic cable-tie tied to his penis.

Abu al-Kabsh said he filed a complaint with Israeli authorities for theft and assault but had not received compensation.

The army had placed Dardik in administrative detention, which can be used without charges or trial and is almost always used for Palestinian detainees. Dardik denies wrongdoing and had gone on a hunger strike before being moved to house arrest.

The case became political when Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz visited Dardik and criticised his detention. Katz later announced on live television that he was removing Bluth from his army post, drawing opposition criticism before he backtracked.

More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank alongside about three million Palestinians. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.