Ramallah, Palestinian Territories: More than 100 Israeli settlers attacked a village in the north of the occupied West Bank early Tuesday, wounding three members of Israel’s security forces and burning two Palestinian homes, authorities and residents said.
The attack occurred while the military was attempting to accompany a Palestinian family back to their home in the village of Jalud after they had been displaced by settler attacks two months earlier.
Tuesday’s assault received rare strong criticism from Israeli officials, while police said they had arrested one individual and taken two minors in for questioning.
The Israeli military said “more than 100 Israeli rioters” were in the area of Jalud overnight as security forces attempted to return the family to their home, adding that soldiers and border police forces had operated to disperse the settlers.
“As a result of the clashes, three Israel Border Police officers were lightly injured, and a security forces vehicle was damaged,” it said in a statement.
The military said the settlers had blocked roads, set tyres on fire and thrown rocks at security forces, as well as setting fire to Palestinian buildings and vehicles in the village.
It added that the attack had prevented the return of the family, who had been displaced “following several incidents of (Israeli) nationalist crime against them”.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, where 500,000 Israeli settlers live among three million Palestinians.
Mahmoud al-Toubasi, a member of the family, told AFP that he and his relatives had left the house over two months ago, and that it had been occupied by settlers until the attack on Tuesday.
“My wife, my son and I went to the house in the car, accompanied by an army vehicle in front of us and another behind us,” he said.
Settlers attacked the group upon their arrival at the house and were pushed back by soldiers with pepper spray, he added.
“We were not physically injured, but we suffered some choking from the pepper spray,” said Toubasi.
Israel’s police said they had arrested one suspect and taken two minors in for questioning.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack, which he blamed on a “small group of rioters”.
He said “their actions cause great harm to that community and interfere with our forces as they carry out their mission”.
President Isaac Herzog said “the arson, stone-throwing, assault, and injury of IDF soldiers and Border Police officers... are strictly forbidden and can have no justification whatsoever”.
Violence has increased in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, with Israeli soldiers or settlers killing at least 1,111 Palestinians in that period, including both militants and civilians, per an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry.
Israeli figures show at least 49 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations during the same period.
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