Nearly 24 hours after the violent incidents in Huwara, during which several friction points were recorded and large Israel Defense Forces and police forces were deployed, no suspects have been arrested. That fact has drawn criticism from both security officials and settlement leaders, who argue that despite the scope of the documentation and the information gathered at the scene, no significant enforcement action has yet been taken.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the incident began at around 8:30 a.m. following a report of sheep theft from a farm in the area. IDF troops called to the scene located the farm residents who had gone out after the stolen flock, but additional vehicles from nearby communities and hilltop outposts later began arriving in the area and the incident deteriorated rapidly.
The IDF stressed that this was not a single friction point, but several scenes unfolding simultaneously in Huwara, Einabus and other locations. "Every time a force arrived at one location, another incident began somewhere else," a security source said. According to the source, the troops' main mission was to prevent loss of life and separate the sides.
?In Cisgiordania soldato e colono israeliani prendono a mazzate giovani palestinesi
?Un soldato israeliano e un "colono" sono stati ripresi mentre picchiavano alcuni palestinesi con delle mazze a Huwara, in Cisgiordania. pic.twitter.com/sGcm84xBtD
— Silvio Bertoldi (@SilviusBerthold) June 7, 2026
Some settlers are directing their criticism at the police. They say the incident began in the morning, while police forces arrived at the scene only in the afternoon. "The police had hours to make arrests, and in the end no one was arrested," a settlement source said.
Police rejected the claims and noted that operations in Judea and Samaria require IDF security and escort. At the same time, police said that if IDF forces had been in the area for hours, they could have detained suspects until officers arrived.
But the main frustration among settlement officials concerns the hours after the incident. According to sources in the area, the authorities already have extensive footage, vehicle license plate numbers, testimonies and additional investigative material. "We have been saying for months: Arrest them. This behavior does not represent us and hurts the settlement movement more than anything else," one source said.
Israel Police said that upon receiving the report, an investigation was opened by the Judea and Samaria District Police, and forensic investigators collected findings, evidence and testimonies at the scene. "Israel Police views incidents of this kind with severity and will continue to act to locate those involved and bring them to justice," police said.
Nevertheless, nearly a day after the events, the central question remains how, in an incident that was extensively documented and in which a great deal of information was collected, none of those involved has yet been arrested.
