Thousands of citizens abandoned their vehicles on the roads leading to Jerusalem and began walking towards Jerusalem for Purim celebrations on Sunday. Police were on high alert and set up numerous checkpoints around the city in order to stop charter buses moving people to parties in violation of public health guidelines.
Maariv reports that there were several cases in which stones and objects were thrown at the police; in some cases, police officers were injured and police vehicles were damaged. During a routine patrol on Ben Gurion Boulevard in Beit Shemesh, police noticed a group of boys throwing a glass bottle in their direction. The suspects fled except for the suspect who remained at the scene but refused to identify herself before attacking the police officers. The suspect was arrested. While attempting to take the first suspect into custody, police were attacked by another suspect who struck a policewoman in the head with an object. Both suspects were taken for questioning.
Other patrols report stones and objects thrown at them, causing damage to police vehicles. A minor suspect was arrested for throwing stones and was taken for questioning.
Later that night, a minor suspect was found on Bar Ilan Street who tried to throw stones at police. The suspect was arrested and taken for questioning by the police, who discovered he may have been involved in a similar incident on Shmuel Hanavi Street when another police vehicle was damaged.
Later, when police forces were called to the scene of a brawl on Bar Ilan Street, a violent riot began as residents began attacking police and throwing stones on Etz Hadar Street at the corner of Shmuel Hanavi. An officer was hit in the head and needed medical attention, and a stone damaged a police car window. Four suspects were taken for questioning.