Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan is calling on the Israel Police to immediately release two farm owners under his jurisdiction who were arrested Saturday night, following a violent confrontation between Jews and Arabs in the village of Huwara, near Nablus.
According to the council, the incident began Saturday morning when the farm owners discovered that roughly 75% of their herd had been stolen. They promptly alerted the army and security authorities, remained in close contact with the council’s security officer and forces on the ground, and set out to search for the missing herd.
They later located the stolen herd in Huwara, an Arab village under Israeli security control, where dozens of local residents reportedly arrived, some armed with sharp objects, and began throwing rocks at the farm owners. One of the owners, fearing for his life, fired warning shots into the air.
The council said that during the incident, masked Jewish individuals also arrived at the scene. According to videos circulated on social media, some were involved in acts of violence against Arabs—actions the Samaria Regional Council has repeatedly and unequivocally condemned.
In a statement shared with JNS, Dagan said it was unjust for law enforcement to arrest the farmers, who he said were acting in full transparency with security forces, and argued that efforts should instead focus on those responsible for the theft, the rock-throwing, and any alleged acts of violence.
“The arrest of the farm owners, who clearly were not involved in any act of violence, is unacceptable and a serious mistake. I call on the Israel Police to release them and act against those truly responsible for the violence and lawbreaking,” said Dagan.
The Israel Police confirmed in a statement that two suspects—residents of Samaria in their 30s—were arrested in connection with the Huwara incident, without specifying that they were the farm owners.
Police said that upon receiving a report of a violent confrontation and rock-throwing in the village of Huwara, to which IDF forces were dispatched, an investigation was opened in the Judea and Samaria District.
As part of the investigation, police forces and forensic investigators from the district entered the scene, accompanied by IDF forces, and began collecting findings, evidence, and testimonies.
Police added that they view “violence of any kind with severity” and will continue to pursue the arrest, investigation, and prosecution of those involved.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit shared a statement with JNS regarding the Huwara incident, saying that soldiers and Border Police forces were dispatched to several locations in the Huwara area, within the Samaria Brigade, following a report of suspected livestock theft from Israeli civilians.
According to the statement, the forces acted to extract the civilians and the livestock from the village and to prevent further friction in the area.
The army said that, subsequently, several rioters arrived in the area, and violent clashes broke out involving stone-throwing and the use of clubs between Israeli civilians and Palestinians. Reports indicated that several Palestinians were injured.
Soldiers operated to disperse the gatherings using riot-control measures. The gatherings were dispersed, and security forces remain in the area to prevent further disturbances.
The IDF said it “strongly condemns any form of violence that undermines security in the area and diverts commanders and troops from their mission of defense and counterterrorism.”
According to the statement, there is also documented footage showing an IDF soldier acting violently toward a Palestinian.
“The actions seen in the video are severe and do not align with IDF values,” the statement said.
The IDF said the incident is under investigation, and upon identification of the soldier involved, disciplinary and command measures will be taken in accordance with the findings.
Naomi Linder Kahn, director of the International Division of Regavim, a research-based advocacy organization focused on land use and sovereignty issues in Israel, told JNS that numerous media outlets, including Israeli ones covering the Huwara incident, downplayed the fact that the events began with Jewish farmers who were robbed and were then accompanied by IDF forces to recover their stolen flock.
She also decried reports this week indicating that France, in conjunction with other European Union countries, is working to impose national sanctions on the State of Israel as a whole, based on its “failure to curb” the alleged surge of settler violence.
Kahn said she is tired of residents of Judea and Samaria living “under a microscope.”
She asked, “What is the rate of violent crime elsewhere—in Tel Aviv? In Haifa? In Umm al-Fahm? In New York? San Francisco? Antwerp? Is anyone calling for international intervention or sanctions in any of those cases?”
Kahn said that, in fact, the rate of violence in Judea and Samaria is among the lowest in the country and among the lowest in the Western world.
She added that Israeli authorities are already investigating, arresting, indicting, and bringing to trial those involved in unprovoked violence.
“We don’t need international sanctions to take over for our very capable justice system,” she said.
