More than 100 Israeli settlers attacked a village in the north of the occupied West Bank early on 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 occupation forces 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.
The occupation forces 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.
