Israeli security forces have arrested two Palestinian suspected of having wounding Israeli civilians in southern Samaria over the weekend, the Israel Defense Forces said on Monday.
“IDF, Israel Security Agency [Shin Bet] and Israel Police forces operated overnight in the town of Deir Dibwan in the Binyamin Brigade [deployment area], arresting two suspects in the attack and injury of two Israeli civilians the day before yesterday in the Michmash area of the Binyamin Brigade,” the military said in a joint statement with the two agencies.
The suspects will be interrogated by the IDF and the Shin Bet.
The army said on Saturday that several Arab terrorists armed with clubs, knives and rocks attacked two Jewish shepherds in a pasture in the Michmash area before fleeing back toward Deir Dibwan.
The suspects reportedly arrived in three cars, including two with Israeli license plates, unloaded their vehicle near one of the shepherds, and suddenly stabbed him in the face with a knife.
The shepherd was said to have fallen to the ground bleeding, and his friend, who came to his rescue, was also attacked by the Arab rioters.
“I ran to help him, and then they started attacking me too,” the second victim, identified as Yehuda, said. “We managed to call for help, and when they saw that forces were arriving, they fled back to the village.”
“I hope that this time, the security establishment will take the incident seriously and catch the terrorists,” the Jewish shepherd said on Saturday.
First responders provided treatment at the scene and evacuated them to a hospital in moderate to light condition with cuts to their faces.
According to data collected by authorities, Arab aggression against Jewish shepherds in Judea and Samaria have been on the rise.
“Jewish farmers are grazing their sheep in open areas; Arabs don’t like that, even if it happens in Area C [of Judea and Samaria, where Israeli communities are located]. They’re trying to stop them by using violence,” a local official from Judea and Samaria told JNS in 2023.
