Police detained 17 Israelis, mostly settlers, for hate crimes against Palestinians in the West Bank town of Huwara last month, Israel Police said on Wednesday morning.
An undercover investigation by the central unit of the Samaria and Judea District focused on an “incident of assault, participation in a prohibited gathering and damage to property from racist motives that occurred on January 24, 2022, in the village of Hawara in Samaria.”
At that event, a celebratory convoy of 30 cars under an army escort on its way to the Yizhar settlement stopped on Route 60 in the commercial center of Huwara, located in the Samaria region near Nablus.
The Jewish rioters broke store windows, stoned Palestinian cars and in some cases assaulted Palestinians. At least three were injured, including a three-year-old, and 25 vehicles were damaged.
The army did not arrest the rioters and escorted the convoy to Yitzhar after the event.
“This morning the investigation became public with the arrest of 17 suspects (including a minor) of residents of Judea and Samaria, Jerusalem,” and northern Israel, the police said. “The suspects are now being taken for questioning in the central unit of the district, and depending on the development of the investigation, it will be decided whether to bring some of them to a hearing of their case in court.”