More than 100 Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian village of Jalud in the occupied West Bank on Monday night, preventing a Palestinian family from returning to their home and clashing with Israeli security forces, witnesses and authorities said.
The al-Tubasi family had been forced to leave their two houses in Jalud, south of Nablus, weeks earlier following repeated harassment and attacks by settlers. A court had ordered the family's return, and Israel's military agreed to escort them back late Monday night to protect them from further settler violence.
Approximately ten minutes after the family reached their homes, a group of over 100 settlers descended on the area, according to witnesses. The settlers set the two houses belonging to the family on fire, blocked access roads, burned vehicles, and hurled rocks at Israeli security forces. Three Border Police officers were injured in the clashes, the Israeli military said. Two settlers were arrested during the operation.
Mahmoud al-Tubasi, 60, told the BBC the experience was "extremely terrifying, beyond words." He said he expected the attackers would kill his family. His wife, Aedah, is 51 years old.
The settlers had seized the family's homes and established an illegal outpost near the village weeks before the attack. The family had been staying elsewhere in Jalud, north of the city of Ramallah, while awaiting the court's decision on their return.
The Israeli military said the return operation had been coordinated in advance. However, the military stated that due to the violence from the settlers, the mission to return the family to their home could not be completed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attacks in an unusual move, describing the perpetrators as "a handful of rioters" who "do not represent settlers who respect the law" in the West Bank. Israel's president and foreign minister also condemned the incidents and called for those responsible to be prosecuted.