A Palestinian family was finally able to return to their home at night, two months after Israeli settlers forced them to leave, only to find themselves under a new attack.
More than 100 Israeli settlers participated in the attack that took place on Tuesday on the “Al-Tubasi” family, as some of them stormed the house and set it on fire.
This incident is the latest in a series of acts of violence committed by settlers against Palestinians - and sometimes also against Israeli forces - in the West Bank, a phenomenon that is repeated almost daily and arouses increasing international condemnation.
This issue has also become a focus in the upcoming Israeli general elections. Gadi Eisenkot, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main rival, blamed a "dangerous government policy" for these actions.
Mahmoud Al-Toubasi's house, located in the village of Jalud in the northern West Bank, was besieged by settlers early in the summer.
Al-Toubasi told CNN that he and his family were eventually forced to leave the house in late July, after a siege that lasted more than a month.
After numerous attempts to regain his home through legal channels, Al-Toubasi was informed by the body responsible for coordination between the Israeli authorities and Palestinian security officials that he could finally return.
Early Tuesday morning, under the protection of the Israeli police and army, the family returned to pass by the settlers who had previously taken over the house, and who were camping in a tent outside it. While the house itself was in chaos and destruction.
A video taken by Toubasi's son - and shared with CNN - shows debris scattered on the ground, broken doors and appliances, and large holes in the walls.
Shortly thereafter, more than 100 settlers stormed the house, attacked family members and police officers, and forced them to leave. The settlers then set fire to the building and the family car.
Local residents documented the scene with their phones from the bottom of the hill, where the house appeared when it was engulfed in flames and columns of smoke were rising from it. Footage filmed later at dawn showed the house completely destroyed by the fire, and it appeared charred from the inside and outside.
In a statement, the Israeli army stated that soldiers and police forces worked to "disperse Israeli rioters and protect the residents of the area."
The statement added that two suspects were arrested after "more than 100 Israelis... blocked roads, set tires on fire, and threw stones at security forces."
The statement stated that three border police officers were slightly injured, and a vehicle belonging to the security forces was damaged as a result of the attack, adding: “The security institution strongly condemns any harm to security personnel while performing their duties, as well as acts of sabotage and damage to property.”
However, Netanyahu continued to downplay daily settler attacks, describing them as the work of “a handful of rioters.” He condemned the "violent riots" that occurred overnight, but did not mention attacks targeting Palestinians, referring only to those targeting security forces.
“This bunch of troublemakers do not represent the law-abiding settler community in Judea and Samaria,” he said, using the biblical name for the West Bank.
However, his main competitor in next month's elections, Gadi Eisenkot, indicated - without mentioning Netanyahu by name - who he believes bears responsibility.
He said: “This is the form of chaos and loss of control that have reached unprecedented levels under the current government. This reality, in which everyone does what they think is right, is neither an accidental defect nor a mistake, but rather a direct result of a dangerous policy.”
Local residents say that the settlers who carried out the attack in the village of Jalud at night were the same group that besieged the home of a Palestinian-American citizen in the nearby village of Qasra last month. These settlers established an illegal settlement outpost in the area and launched almost daily attacks on Palestinians.
The Israeli government has formalized - mechanically and without real scrutiny - dozens of illegal Israeli settlement outposts over the past three years.
Peace Now, an Israeli organization that monitors settlement activities, criticized what it described as the "double standards" of the Israeli government.
The organization said in a statement: “They are not just a minority, nor a handful of individuals, nor weeds. Rather, they are a large, organized Jewish terrorist militia, supported and funded by your government, and operating out of settlement outposts and farms that you have legitimized and permitted to exist.”
