Bluth Signs the Sealing Order, Duvdevan Takes Two Men Out of a Nablus Hospital, and Two Mosques Burn

Al Jazeera reports that shortly after Friday’s killings Netanyahu announced he had ordered raids in Palestinian villages suspected of hosting “militants,” and that by Sunday the military had stormed several towns and detained hundreds. The Times of Israel’s Saturday count was narrower — sweeping overnight raids arresting dozens, with the main focus the village of Tell, including searches of the homes of the families of the Palestinians killed. The two figures cover different windows and should not be merged. Israeli commandos of the Duvdevan Unit raided a hospital in Nablus where two wounded Palestinians the military said took part in the clash had been brought, and took them for Shin Bet questioning. The IDF’s statement: “The identities of all the terrorists who participated in the attack are known.”

On Sunday the process moved to property. The Times of Israel’s liveblog reported troops sealed the home of a Palestinian involved in the Tell shooting; its news copy adds that the temporary sealing was approved by Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, and that the military “intends to continue to advance the process” of demolition. Running in parallel, and sourced by the Times of Israel to both the IDF and Palestinian reports: settlers attacked several Palestinian towns and villages overnight Saturday, torching two mosques, a home and several vehicles and spraying graffiti claiming “revenge” for the killing of an Israeli. Palestinian media reported settlers raided Qusra, south of Nablus, and set fire to a mosque there.

Assessment: Two enforcement systems are operating in the same villages this week and only one of them files statements. The state’s track is legible and attributable — a named general signs the sealing order, a named unit lifts men from a hospital ward, the Shin Bet takes custody. The settler track produces burnt mosques and graffiti and no arrests reported in the brief. That asymmetry is the durable finding, not the arrest totals, which are being counted over different windows by outlets with different access. Note also what the sealing order signals: Bluth’s approval is the procedural first step toward demolition, and the army said so on the record. Expect the demolition, not the arrests, to be the next confirmable event.