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More than 100 Israeli settlers descended on a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank on Monday night, attacking residents, burning two homes, and preventing a family from reclaiming properties that settlers had seized weeks earlier. The violence in Jalud, located south of Nablus, has renewed scrutiny of Israel's failure to curb settler attacks despite a High Court ruling explicitly ordering the family's safe return.
The al-Tubasi family—Mahmoud, 60, his wife Aida, 51, and their 33-year-old son Wael—had been escorted by Israeli military forces to their homes following the court decision issued earlier this month. Instead of completing their return, they found themselves under attack and were ultimately driven away as their houses and car were set ablaze by settlers.
"It was extremely terrifying, beyond words. It's hard to imagine the situation," Mahmoud al-Tubasi told the BBC. "My feeling now is that I am happy to have escaped death. I genuinely expected they were going to kill us."
The family had been forced to leave their homes this summer after enduring weeks of harassment and assaults from extremist settlers who established an illegal outpost near Jalud and besieged three houses, including two belonging to the al-Tubasis' married sons who have young daughters. The High Court ruling, which strongly criticised Israeli authorities for failing to crack down on settler violence, had mandated the family's safe return by 20 September—more than a week before Monday's attack.
According to al-Tubasi, he received a call around midnight informing him that the Israeli military had coordinated his family's return. A message from Israeli officials instructed him to immediately accompany the army and border police if he wished to reclaim his property. The family arrived by torchlight to inspect one home, where video shared with the BBC revealed extensive damage: doors with holes smashed through them, electrical fittings torn out, tiles ripped up, broken windows, and rubbish scattered throughout the property. The toilet had been destroyed and appeared filled with human waste.
The situation escalated rapidly as large numbers of settlers arrived in Jalud after alerts circulated in WhatsApp groups used to coordinate such actions. The messages indicated that the Palestinian family they had previously forced out was returning and should be stopped.
"As soon as we entered the house, which had already been completely destroyed, settlers started throwing stones at us. The army responded by firing tear gas at them, but there were so many settlers, more than 150, that the army could no longer control them," al-Tubasi recounted.
The grandfather described how a group of Israeli soldiers positioned themselves to protect his family from approaching settlers, using pepper spray to push them back. Settlers slashed the tyres of a military van the family was placed in, forcing their transfer to an armoured military vehicle. As they were being driven away, the settlers set fire to their car and both houses. Video footage captured from a distance shows smoke billowing from the burning structures.
Al-Tubasi noted that while Israeli security forces "essentially formed a barrier, took us out safely and got us away from there," they "did not take any action against the settlers themselves."
An Israel Defense Forces statement confirmed that "more than 100 Israeli rioters were present in the village, blocking roads, setting tyres on fire, and throwing stones at security forces." The military reported that three police officers sustained light injuries and a security forces vehicle was damaged. The IDF described the Tubasi family as victims of a "nationalist crime," adding that "due to the violence, the mission to return the family to their home was not completed."
The head of the local council in Jalud told reporters that residents confronted the settlers, leading to clashes that spread to a nearby village. In that adjacent community, a Palestinian woman was assaulted by settlers and her house was set ablaze.
The attack follows a pattern of escalating violence against the al-Tubasi family. One month ago, Aida al-Tubasi was attacked by masked Israeli settlers and injured, along with American journalists who were interviewing her in Jalud. The assault underscored the dangers facing both Palestinian residents and international media attempting to document settler violence in the region.
Human rights groups point to Monday's events as stark evidence that Israeli authorities are failing to take effective action against settler violence, even when explicitly ordered to do so by the country's highest court. The High Court's ruling described settler actions as "a completely unacceptable phenomenon that stands in contrast to the basic values" of Israeli society, yet the violence continues unabated.
Israel's prime minister called on law enforcement authorities to prosecute those he described as "rioters," though similar calls in the past have yielded few consequences for settlers involved in attacks. The gap between official condemnations and actual enforcement has long been a source of criticism from Palestinian residents, human rights organisations, and even Israeli legal experts who warn that impunity emboldens further violence.
The events in Jalud highlight the complex and often contradictory role of Israeli security forces, who are tasked with protecting Palestinian civilians under occupation law while also operating in a political environment where settler expansion is often tacitly or openly supported. Monday's operation saw soldiers actively shield the al-Tubasi family from harm, yet those same forces stood by as settlers destroyed the family's property.
For Mahmoud al-Tubasi and his family, the future remains deeply uncertain. Their homes now lie in ashes, their car destroyed, and their ability to return to their land—despite a court order affirming their right to do so—appears as distant as ever. The family's ordeal mirrors that of countless other Palestinian communities across the West Bank, where settlers have escalated attacks in recent years, often with minimal interference from authorities.
The international community has repeatedly expressed concern over settler violence, with the United Nations documenting a sharp rise in attacks across the occupied territories. Yet diplomatic statements have done little to alter conditions on the ground, where Palestinian families like the al-Tubasis face the constant threat of displacement, property destruction, and physical harm.
As night fell on Jalud following Monday's attack, the charred remains of the al-Tubasi homes stood as a testament to the failure of legal remedies and security measures to protect Palestinian civilians. The family, once again displaced, now waits to see whether Israeli authorities will enforce the court's ruling or whether the settlers who drove them out will face accountability for their actions. Based on the pattern of recent years, neither outcome appears likely in the immediate term.
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