Israeli military refuses to return Palestinian herd despite telling top court it was seized illegally

Israeli soldiers seize cattle in the West Bank village of Sa-Nur, October 2025

Matan Golan and Chen Maanit report in Haaretz on 29 December 2025:

The IDF says it is taking disciplinary action against commanders who ordered soldiers to seize a herd of cows from a Palestinian family and transfer it to Israeli settlers last month, but is refusing to return the herd to its owners, arguing that authority to do so rests with the police.

Responding to a petition by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the IDF told the High Court of Justice on Sunday that the order was indeed issued unlawfully and without a factual basis. The association demanded that the herd be returned to its owners or that the military present a lawful order detailing the source of authority and the grounds for seizure.

In November, Haaretz reported that on October 10, around 10 Israeli soldiers entered the cowshed of a Palestinian family in Sa-Nur, near the city of Jenin, and seized a herd of cows.  On the morning of the incident, soldiers arrived at the family’s cowshed and detained the father, taking his phone and ID. When his son arrived, the soldiers detained him as well. Shortly after, a civilian truck arrived, escorted by military jeeps.  The family said soldiers then broke through the cowshed’s fencing and loaded the cattle onto the truck, kicking the cows and beating them with sticks.

The Farms’ Association – a Facebook page associated with Jewish settlers – posted footage of the herd shortly after the incident, alongside a caption claiming the herd was stolen and was returned to its owners.

“With the outstanding cooperation of the IDF, the stolen herd was found and returned,” the post said, “This is what true governance looks like. Congratulations to the IDF soldiers for the courage, dedication and attachment to the land!”

However, the Palestinian family argued that the herd was theirs and that the soldiers failed to present official documentation justifying the raid.

The military stated in its response to the high court on Sunday, submitted by Military Advocate General Itay Offir and the commander of IDF forces in the West Bank, that an internal review found that on October 10 “an order was issued by military commanders to a force on the ground to return a herd of cows which, based on the best of the commanders’ belief, had apparently been stolen from Israeli farmers living in the area.”  According to the response, the soldiers on the ground acted in accordance with that order.

Offir and the IDF further stated that “the review found that the military official’s order to seize the herd was issued without authority, as IDF soldiers operating in the area lack the power to investigate and seize property suspected of being stolen – authority that is vested in the Israel Police.”

The response said that although the order was issued “without authority and in the absence of sufficient factual basis,” it was given out of a “sincere belief in the Israeli farmers’ ownership of the herd.”

The IDF told the court that “the military prosecution has decided that the actions of the commanders should be addressed through command and disciplinary channels, rather than through criminal proceedings.”

The military rejected the family’s request that the herd be returned to them, despite finding that the soldiers acted without authority and a factual basis.   “The matter does not fall within the criminal sphere,” the response maintained, adding that “under these circumstances, the respondents’ legal position is that, at this point in time, they lack the authority to take the herd from those currently in possession of it – the Israeli farmers.”

The military told the court it had transferred the family’s complaint regarding the theft of their herd to the police for “further handling at its discretion,” and noted that its law enforcement authorities are still examining the family’s claims that violence was used against them during the seizure.

The police have yet to respond to a Haaretz inquiry on the matter.

This article is reproduced in its entirety