Honenu Attorney Nati Rom; Photo credit: Honenu

Sunday, October 18, 2026, 17:55 Four minors were woken up this morning (Sunday) at Givat Shirat Tzion, near Kedumim in the Shomron, by police officers who beat them and then forcibly detained them for “violating a closed military zone order.”

The four were questioned on suspicion of assault, and police also took DNA samples from them. At the remand hearing, the minors arrived at court with visible marks on their bodies. The police asked the court to bar the four from entering Yehuda and Shomron for 60 days and to confine them to their communities for 30 days.

However, during the hearing, the police withdrew the assault allegation and said there was no evidence to support it. It also became clear that the IDF Central Command Major General’s order declaring the area a closed military zone was shown to the youths for the first time only at the moment of their detention. As a result, Judge Dror Kleitman of the Petah Tikva Juvenile Court ordered their immediate and unconditional release.

Judge Kleitman ruled that the Major General’s order was given to the suspects only at the time of their detention, and therefore “it is unclear how they can be suspected or accused of committing an offense when the order was presented to them only at the moment they were detained.”

Honenu Attorney Nati Rom, who is representing the four detainees, said: “Time and again, the Israel Police carries out violent detentions of minors without any reasonable suspicion, in violation of the law and without a judicial warrant. Then, at the hearing, they request absurd conditions, including detention and restraining orders—something completely unacceptable in criminal proceedings. We are pleased with the court’s decision and intend to file a complaint with the Department of Internal Police Investigations.”