Israeli settlers attack West Bank village and block Palestinian family's return home

What Happened

More than 100 Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian village of Jalud, south of Nablus, on Monday night, stopping the al-Tubasi family from returning to two homes that had been seized by settlers weeks earlier. The family — Mahmoud al-Tubasi, 60, his wife Aida, 51, and their son Wael, 33 — had returned to the properties accompanied by Israeli forces after Israel's High Court ruled earlier this month that they must be allowed to go back by 20 September. According to Mahmoud al-Tubasi, more than 150 settlers arrived after alerts in WhatsApp groups, threw stones at the family, slashed the tyres of a military van, and set fire to the family's car and both houses. The IDF said more than 100 Israeli rioters were present, blocking roads, setting tyres on fire, and throwing stones at security forces; three police officers were lightly injured and a security forces vehicle was damaged. The IDF described the family as victims of 'nationalist crime' and said the mission to return them was not completed. Israeli police said they arrested three people suspected of involvement.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The attack underscores the enforcement gap in the occupied West Bank amid record-high settler violence. The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din said fewer than 3% of police investigations into settler violence over two decades have led to a conviction, and its executive director Ziv Stahl called the violence 'part of a systematic government policy aimed at pushing Palestinians out of the area and expanding Israeli control over land in the West Bank.' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attacks on security forces and called for prosecution, but at the UN General Assembly last week he dismissed international concerns about settler violence as involving 'a handful of juvenile delinquents, about 150 in number.' The failure to enforce a High Court order for the al-Tubasi family's safe return illustrates the legal and political obstacles facing Palestinian residents and the broader erosion of accountability.

Watch For

Monitor whether Israeli authorities enforce the 20 September High Court deadline and secure the al-Tubasi family's safe return after the failed mission. Watch for the outcomes of the three arrests made by Israeli police and whether further prosecutions follow Netanyahu's call to prosecute rioters. Track settler activity around Jalud and nearby villages, including the reported assault on a Palestinian woman and house fire in a nearby village. Also monitor UN and Israeli human rights group reporting on settler violence levels, which the UN says have reached an all-time high this year.