Over 100 settlers attack West Bank village, block Palestinian family’s return home

More than 100 Israeli settlers rioted in the West Bank village of Jalud overnight Monday-Tuesday, preventing Israeli forces from enabling a displaced Palestinian family from returning to their home.

The Tubasi family was forced to leave their home in Jalud, near Nablus, in July, following repeated harassment and violence by settlers. In September, the High Court of Justice ordered that their safe return be ensured, in a scathing decision that castigated authorities for failing to crack down on the attacks.

Israeli forces tried to coordinate the return of the family to their home overnight, but “more than 100 Israeli rioters were present in the village, blocking roads, setting tires on fire, and throwing stones at security forces,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

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The army said the settlers also set fire to Palestinian homes, cars, and other property in the village, including, according to reports, the Tubasi family home.

Three Border Police officers were lightly injured by the settlers, and damage was caused to a vehicle belonging to the Israeli security forces, according to the military.

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The IDF said that “due to the violence, the mission to return the family to their home was not completed.”

The forces used riot dispersal means against the settlers, and two suspects were detained, who the military says were handed over to the police for questioning.

Police officers planned to enter the village later on Tuesday with an IDF escort to collect findings, evidence, and take testimony for an investigation into the incident.

“The security establishment strongly condemns any harm to security personnel while carrying out their duties, as well as acts of vandalism and damage to property,” the statement said.

“Such incidents divert attention [from operational needs], undermine stability, and hinder the security forces’ defensive and counterterrorism activities,” the army added.

The rioters had arrived in Jalud after an alert was posted in several WhatsApp groups for extremist settlers, calling on them to rush to the village to prevent security forces from escorting the evicted Palestinians back to their homes.

Herzog: Riot a ‘moral stain,’ contrary to Judaism

President Isaac Herzog called on X for law enforcement authorities to act “decisively” against the perpetrators of the attack.

The violence is “of utmost severity,” Herzog said, and a “moral stain [and] an attack on the rule of law and our most basic values as a nation.”

The rioters, he said, have “caused harm to the holiday of Sukkot, to the settling of the land and to the nation as a whole,” adding: “The violence is deeply contradictory to the values of Judaism.”

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, responding to the incident, wrote: “The riot that took place last night in Jalud village, which included arson and injury to Border Police, is serious and abhorrent.”

“Anyone who commits these criminal offenses and assaults Border Police fighters and IDF soldiers, and even harms them, are criminals who must be dealt with to the full severity of the law,” he said. “They harm our values. They harm Jewish settlement. They harm Israel.”

Rioters set fire to expelled homeowner’s house

The expelled homeowner, Mohammed Tubasi, told The Times of Israel on Tuesday that around midnight, the Civil Administration called the family and told them they would be able to return to their home.

In July, he and others living in three homes on the outskirts of Jalud were violently expelled by extremist settlers who set up an illegal outpost close to the village and besieged the petitioners’ homes. On September 6, the High Court ordered Israeli forces to ensure their return. They were supposed to have done so by September 20.

When they tried to reach the house together with IDF troops, they were attacked by settlers, he said.

According to Tubasi, the Palestinians escaped without injury because IDF troops rescued them during the incident and moved them into a military vehicle.

He said the Palestinian vehicle they had arrived in was set on fire by settlers, and that their house was also burned down — completely, according to him.

Footage published by Palestinian media showed an attempt to set the house on fire, though it was unclear how extensive the blaze was. Footage also showed extensive damage inside the house, including smashed stairs, after settlers had stayed there for several weeks.

Three arrested so far, including two minors

Two settlers from the northern and central West Bank, aged 15 and 17, were detained by IDF troops in Jalud and handed over to the police for questioning overnight.

A third Israeli, a resident of Jerusalem, was detained Tuesday morning on suspicion of participating in the violence.

Police said that during a search for suspects who participated in the rioting and arson in the village, officers inspected a suspicious vehicle in the area, which was found to contain balaclavas and a club.

The vehicle also contained “findings” apparently linked to a suspect, an 18-year-old resident of Jerusalem, who was arrested, police said.

The suspect’s vehicle was seized, along with another car belonging to an Israeli found in the area, which police said was suspected to have been used by the assailants.

Settlers firebomb family home in al-Mughayyir

Separately, in the village of al-Mughayyir in the central West Bank overnight, a Molotov cocktail was reportedly hurled through the window of a family’s home while they were sleeping inside. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Footage showed members of the family trying to put out the fire. Other clips showed parked cars that were also torched in the attack.

Police said they were investigating the attack, which they said included “damage to cars and graffiti being sprayed.” Officers entered the village on Tuesday morning with an IDF escort to collect evidence and testimonies.

Another reported attack targeted the northern West Bank village of Qaryut. During the raid, settlers assaulted an elderly woman, Palestinian media reported. Footage appeared to show the woman being placed into an ambulance on a stretcher due to a head injury.

Earlier Monday, Palestinian news sites aired several clips of what they said were Israeli settlers stealing olives from groves belonging to Palestinians, days before the start of the harvest.

Settler violence in the West Bank has risen sharply since the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza.

The attacks occur daily but perpetrators are rarely caught and prosecuted. Critics accuse the government of condoning and even encouraging the violence, which has led to the displacement of dozens of Palestinian families.

Haredi men assault Arabs outside Jerusalem’s Old City

In Jerusalem overnight, dozens of Jews in Haredi garb attempted to attack two Arabs passing through the Old City’s Damascus Gate, according to footage published by Palestinian media.

In recent days, there has been a large presence of Jews in Jerusalem’s Old City, particularly around Damascus Gate, due to the Sukkot holiday.

The targeted Arab men could be seen fleeing as dozens of people chased them, after which police forces arrived at the scene.

The Israel Police told The Times of Israel: “11 people were arrested during disturbances at the site.”

The Old City is part of East Jerusalem, which Israel captured from Jordan during the Six Day War in 1967, and formally annexed later, though much of the world does not recognize Israeli sovereignty there. Most of its Arab residents have permanent residency status, though they are eligible to apply for citizenship.