Settler Violence

2023-02-26 · Huwara, Nablus

Huwara pogrom: hundreds of settlers torch homes and cars; a Za'tara resident is shot dead

ArsonStone-throwingShootingProperty damageLivestock theftDamage to olive treesAssaultArrests or chargesAwaiting review

On the afternoon of 26 February 2023, after two Israeli brothers from Har Bracha were shot dead in Huwara, hundreds of settlers escorted by soldiers attacked Huwara, Za'tara, Burin and 'Asira al-Qibliya. They burned homes, businesses and hundreds of vehicles. Soldiers fired tear gas at residents who came out to defend themselves. In Za'tara, live fire killed Sameh Aqtash, 36.

Footage

Original post · Archived copySHA-256 a7be0928489b704562d6e49f62d2269b261fb1ed37bfd64df7f9076eb630efc6

Location

Approximate: village

How it was located: Wikipedia centroid for Huwara. The same pogrom also hit Za'tara (where the fatal shooting took place), Burin and 'Asira al-Qibliya.

Victims and damage

Injured
7
Killed
1
Damage
In Huwara: 4 homes burned down and 9 partially burned, windows shattered in 41 houses, businesses torched, about 60 residents' cars, about 220 cars at a dealership and hundreds of other vehicles burned, 42 olive trees set on fire. In Burin: cars torched, sheep killed and stolen. In 'Asira al-Qibliya: a home and a water-reservoir electrical panel set on fire.

Perpetrators

Group
Hundreds of settlers escorted by soldiers
Army
Soldiers took part
  • David Chai Chasdai: Sanctioned [4] · Sanctions: US 2024 (EO 14115, designated 1 Feb 2024; removed 24 Jan 2025)

Legal outcome

  1. Arrest · 2023-03-01 · Police arrested six suspects. Eight settlers arrested earlier had been released. [2]
  2. Arrest · 2023-03-02 · The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ordered the release of the seven suspects still held, citing lack of evidence. The Defense Minister signed four-month administrative detention orders (to 1 July) for two suspects: David Chai Chasdai, 29, and an unnamed 17-year-old. Administrative detention is detention without charge, not an indictment. [3]

Sources

  1. B'Tselem – The pogrom in Huwarah and other Palestinian communities in the northern West Bank
  2. Al Jazeera – Israel arrests settlers after anti-Palestinian pogrom
  3. Times of Israel – Two suspects in Huwara rampage, including minor, sent to administrative detention
  4. Times of Israel – Four sanctioned settlers named
  5. US Treasury OFAC – Termination of Emergency With Respect to the Situation in the West Bank; West Bank-related Designation Removals
  6. Israel arrests suspects in settler rampage described by general as 'pogrom' (The New Arab, 1 Mar 2023)

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