A court order allowed the Al-Tubasi family to return home after months of forced displacement. They thought the worst was behind them. They were wrong. Hours after stepping back onto their property in Jalud, a mob of more than 100 Israeli settlers descended on the village, setting fire to their houses and turning a long-awaited homecoming into a terrifying ordeal.
This latest rampage south of Nablus in the northern West Bank isn't an isolated incident. It’s part of an escalating pattern of violence that continues to tear through Palestinian communities with near-total impunity.
What Happened in Jalud
The sequence of events lays bare the chaotic dynamic on the ground in the occupied West Bank. Mahmoud Al-Tubasi and his family had spent nearly two months displaced following earlier nationalist attacks. Armed with an Israeli court decision, they coordinated their return. According to local and independent reports, they arrived under military escort, only to find their properties heavily damaged and already occupied during their absence.
When night fell, the situation deteriorated rapidly. A large group of settlers raided the village, targeting the Al-Tubasi family homes and setting them ablaze. Extensive damage rendered the buildings entirely uninhabitable.
Villagers rushed to defend their homes, but the response from the Israeli military raised serious questions. Rather than halting the rioters, security forces sent reinforcements and provided cover for the mob. In a grim twist, soldiers forced the Al-Tubasi family to evacuate their property yet again—this time at gunpoint. The military later reported that three border police officers were lightly injured and a security vehicle damaged during clashes with over 100 rioters who threw rocks, burned tires, and blocked roads. One person was arrested and two minors were detained, but the structural reality remains unchanged.
The Broader West Bank Crisis
You can't look at the raid on Jalud in a vacuum. It happened alongside parallel assaults on other West Bank villages like Al-Mughayyir and Qaryut, where an elderly Palestinian woman was reportedly beaten during coordinated raids.
International scrutiny is mounting, yet local realities on the ground grow grimmer by the day. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently downplayed the scope of settler violence during an address to the United Nations, dismissing criticism as overblown. But on the ground in the West Bank, families facing displacement see a completely different picture. Court orders granting the right to return are routinely undermined by mob violence, and military escorts frequently morph into forced evacuations under fire.
Why This Story Matters Right Now
The attack on Jalud highlights a deep structural failure in the occupied territories. When court-mandated returns are met with arson, and when security forces protect rioters instead of displaced civilians, rule of law completely collapses. The Al-Tubasi family wanted nothing more than to live in peace in their own home. Instead, they’re displaced all over again, caught between violent extremist groups and an occupying military force that fails to protect them.
Pay close attention to how these incidents are handled in the coming weeks. The trajectory of the West Bank depends heavily on whether accountability replaces impunity.
