Forensics debunk ‘settler arson’ claim, and not for first time

A fire at a Palestinian residential building in the Hebron area on Thursday morning was caused by an electrical short circuit, according to an investigation by Israeli police and fire officials, contradicting claims that masked Israelis deliberately set the building ablaze.

“I’ve been here for eight months, and I’ve seen people make unauthorized electrical connections, running cables from one building to another and using makeshift outlets. It’s not professionally installed. The electric company didn’t do it for them,” a police spokesperson told The Press Service of Israel.

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An investigation by the security agencies officially determined that the fire that broke out on Feb. 17, 2026, at a sheep pen in the area of as-Samu, was caused by an electrical malfunction. Fire investigators from the Fire and Rescue Authority and forensic investigators determined that an electrical fault ignited the tarpaulin sheets used to cover the sheep pen, and the fire quickly spread into the structure. As a result, about 75 sheep inside the pen died.

In that case, too, Palestinian sources claimed that the fire had been deliberately set by Israeli “settlers,” as part of what they described as a “price tag” attack. However, the professional investigation completely ruled out criminal or nationalist motives and determined that the fire originated from an electrical malfunction.

The sheep pen investigation also raised suspicions of an attempt to obstruct the inquiry. The owners of the pen initially claimed that the site was not connected to the electrical grid at all, but police investigators discovered that the main power cable had been deliberately disconnected shortly after the fire broke out, potentially compromising the findings of the investigation.

On Thursday, the Judea and Samaria District Police said that investigators found no traces of an accelerant at the scene of the fire in the village of Beit Amra.

The findings contradict an account given by Bassam al-Nawaj, a resident of the building, who told Palestinian Authority-run WAFA news agency that five masked and armed Israelis burned the home after smashing a window and throwing a flammable substance inside.

Police officers from the Hebron Station, together with a Judea and Samaria District forensic investigator and a Judea and Samaria Fire and Rescue fire investigator, examined the site after entering the area under Israel Defense Forces protection.

“We received the initial report at around 6:30 or 7 a.m. We sent a team of investigators, including a forensic investigator and a fire investigator from the Fire and Rescue Service. The fire investigator and the police forensic investigator examined the site and determined that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit,” Shimon Cohen, spokesperson for the Israel Police Judea Region, told The Press Service of Israel.

“They identified the source of the short circuit and the point where the fire started. They also found no traces of any accelerant at the scene,” Cohen added. “If someone had thrown a Molotov cocktail, there would normally be traces of an accelerant, whether from the bottle itself or from whatever was used to start the fire. There was nothing of the sort.”

Investigators also identified what they determined was the likely source of the electrical fault.

Police said there was no security footage available to independently establish who was present at the building when the fire began.

“People can make all kinds of claims, but ultimately, we have to rely on the factual findings at the scene,” Cohen said.

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