JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Hundreds of people broke into a police station in Beit Shemesh overnight Sunday to protest the arrest of a charedi man who is suspected of being a military draft evader. Protesters also set fire to vegetation near the station and threw stones. Police and Border Police forces used stun grenades and crowd-dispersal measures against the rioters.

According to the police: “Violent rioters gathered outside the Beit Shemesh police station and began violent disturbances following the arrest of a suspect believed to be a draft evader, who had been taken by the Military Police before their arrival. The rioters broke into the station compound and set nearby vegetation on fire.”

לילה דרמטי: מאות חרדים פרצו לתחנת משטרת בית שמש בעקבות מעצר עריק, הציתו צמחיות וגרמו לנזק רב. הנה כמה תיעודים. נתחיל מהפריצה לתחנת המשטרה > pic.twitter.com/wUYyrGdPa0

— יואלי ברים yoeli brim (@yoeli_brim) June 1, 2026

מפקד משטרת בית שמש מותקף ברכבו> pic.twitter.com/ZXqthbzqcG

— יואלי ברים yoeli brim (@yoeli_brim) June 1, 2026

סלעים על הכביש כדי להזיק לרכבים והצתת צמחיה> pic.twitter.com/Jt9CVI6t3O

— יואלי ברים yoeli brim (@yoeli_brim) June 1, 2026

Police later announced that eight of the rioters had been arrested and that order had been restored.

The charedi news site Kikar HaShabbat reported that one person at the scene said: “I saw members of the Gur Hasidic community, the Belz Hasidic community, and other major groups here that have never participated in such demonstrations before. Everyone understands that this is a shared crisis in light of the decrees against the Torah world.”