Police say 3 Jewish settlers detained while apparently heading to attack Palestinians

Police say they detained three Jewish settlers yesterday who, armed with makeshift weapons, had entered a closed military zone en route to a Palestinian village.

The suspects had left their outpost of Esh Yehuda and set out toward Surif, north of Hebron, carrying “improvised items,” police say. Wooden clubs were later found in the suspects’ vehicle.

When police approached them, the group tried to evade arrest. Several climbed a tree, refusing orders to come down and throwing pinecones at police officers.

Security forces’ vehicles sustained damage during the incident, police add. Officers detained three suspects and brought them in for interrogation at the Etzion police station.

Illustrative: A masked Jewish extremist swings a slingshot while hurling stones at Palestinians who had gathered for the annual olive harvest season, during an attack by Israeli settlers on the Palestinian village of Beita, south of Nablus in the West Bank, on October 10, 2025. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

One of the detainees, a minor, was freed to house arrest under restrictive conditions. The two others — an adult and a minor — remain in custody, and were ordered by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court to remain in custody another two days.

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