CNN accused the Israeli army of failing to prevent the attack last February by Israeli settlers on occupied West Bank town of Hawara in an investigation broadcasted on Thursday.

In an hours-long rampage, settlers set vehicles and houses ablaze, causing widespread damage to property and livestock, as well as injuring several and even killing one Palestinian. 

According to the investigation, the Israeli military did not attempt to prevent the rioting, nor stop it once it had already began. 

It also pointed to a widespread incitement campaign from parties within Israel's government. An Israeli member of parliament for Itamar Ben-Gvir's extremist Jewish Power party, Limor Son Har-Melech, was a member of one of the social media groups that spread the calls for revenge.

One Israeli soldier who spoke to the American network said that dozens of soldiers were present at the scene, along with the Shin Bet forces and others, and that they were aware of the threat, but no one attempted to suppress it. 

Corroborating the account of Palestinian witnesses, the soldier added that they stood by while hundreds of settlers attacked the town.

Another soldier also told CNN: "The acts of violence and setting fire to Palestinian property could have been avoided if the forces present in the area had used force against the settlers and prevented them from entering the town of Hawara in the first place."

He said that their "biggest failure" was the failure to provide safe passage for fire trucks, which were attacked by the settlers.

Many Palestinians from the town said that they were shot at with tear and stun grenades when they tried to defend their homes.