He condemned the arson attack as “the worst form of terrorism practiced by the terrorist settlers”, and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of defending them.
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No further information about the reason for the arrests was given by the police, but it is believed the suspects were involved in attacks against Palestinians.
The lawyer for Mr Ettinger, who is the grandson of anti-Arab racist rabbi Meir Kahane, said the administration order was an indication that authorities have no actual evidence against him. Another suspected Jewish extremist, Mordechai Meyer, was placed under six-month administrative detention last week.
“They’re trying to show the violence is committed by small extremist groups, which it’s not, this is part of a system”, said Shawan Jabarin, director of the Ramallah-based Al Haq human rights organisation. Ali’s father, Saad, died of injuries sustained in the attack over the weekend.
It did not give the number of arrests.
Authorities said one of the raided outposts was Adei Ad, close to the Palestinian village of Duma, where the arson attack took place.
The outposts are isolated Israeli settlements built without government authorization.
The Israeli army usually conducts drills in the occupied West Bank, especially in the Jordan Valley, after forcefully displacing dozens of local Palestinian families due to the proximity of their homes to the training sites.
Mohammed Allan, a 33-year-old laywer who is one of the Palestinians now held under adminstrative detention, has been on a hunger strike for more than 50 days to protest the practice. His death may raise tensions in the Palestinian Territories. Public radio said the Israeli was stabbed while filling his vehicle.
Israeli forces on Saturday suppressed a Palestinian march protesting Israeli plans to turn a southern West Bank church compound into a settlement outpost, as well as other Israeli “crimes”, locals said. The policy has commonly been used to detain Palestinian terror suspects in the past.
Israel in the past has acceded to their demands and at times has released prisoners.
Each administrative detention decree allows the Shin Bet to keep suspects in custody for up to six months without a trial, after which a judge would need to renew the order.
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The Israeli settlers’ attack on the Palestinian family has elicited public outcry outside Palestine, as well.
