Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — The Israel Army has returned its urban warfare force to
battle Palestinian unrest in the West Bank.

The Army has ordered the return of the Kfir Brigade to the West Bank in
an effort to stop increasing Palestinian violence. Military
sources said Kfir, trained in urban warfare and counter-insurgency, would
focus on quelling attacks on Israelis as well as violent Palestinian
protests in wake of Israel’s war with Hamas in November 2012.

“There is a rise in hostile and terror activity ever since Operation
Pillar of Defense [Israel-Hamas war], and a single event can indeed ignite the entire sector,” brigade commander Col. Uda Ben Muha said.

Ben Muha told Israel’s Ynet news agency that Kfir has been trained in
the use of non-lethal means to control Palestinian rioters. He said units of the brigade were also taught to film Palestinian violence to counter that which appears in the Western media.

“The trends on the ground are changing,” Ben Muha said.

The Kfir deployment came in wake of conventional military training in
January 2013 in the Golan Heights near Syria. Brigade units have been
trained in mobile operations as well as joint missions with the Israel Air Force.

The Army has been dismayed by the flight of combat units from
Palestinian protesters throughout the West Bank. In Hebron, Palestinian
Authority police mobilized hundreds to chase an Israel Army patrol, whose
soldiers fled for safety in a nearby store.

Ben Muha said Kfir was trained to quell Palestinian violence without the
use of live fire. He said units were instructed in crowd control methods
meant to separate organizers from protesters.

“We teach the soldiers to hold their ground vis-a-vis rioters and
protesters,” Ben Muha said. “As long as the peripheral event is under
control, there’s little reason to clash with protesters. Sometimes the use
of crowd-control measures can escalate the situation.”

  Col. Uda Ben Muha, Golan Heights, Hebron, Israel redeploys urban warfare brigade to West Bank, Kfir Brigade