100 Israeli settlers drove a Palestinian family from home again. Netanyahu blamed a ‘handful of rioters’

Two months after Israeli settlers forced them out of their house, a Palestinian family was finally able to return to their home overnight – only to be attacked by settlers once again. More than 100 Israeli settlers were involved in Tuesday’s attack on the Tubasi family – with some storming the house and setting it on fire. It is the latest in what has become an almost daily occurrence of settler violence in the West Bank against Palestinians – and sometimes Israeli armed forces too – an upsurge which has given rise to increasing international condemnation. The issue is also becoming a focus of Israel’s upcoming general election, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, blaming the actions on a “dangerous [government] policy.” Mahmoud Tubasi’s home in Jalud, in the northern West Bank, was first besieged by settlers early in the summer. After more than a month, he and his family were eventually forced out towards the end of July, Tubasi told CNN. After multiple attempts to reclaim his home through legal means, Tubasi was informed by the body that coordinates between Israeli authorities and Palestinian security officials that he could finally return. Escorted back by Israeli police and the Israeli military early Tuesday morning, the family passed by the settlers who had previously taken over the home, now camped in a tent outside. The house itself was in disarray. Video filmed by Tubasi’s son and shared with CNN shows debris scattered on the floor, doors and appliances smashed and walls left with large, jagged holes. Shortly after, over 100 settlers stormed the house, attacking the family, as well as police officers inside, and forcing them to leave. The settlers then set fire to the building and the family car. Nearby residents videoed the scene from the base of the hill, capturing the house engulfed in flames, with smoke pouring into the night sky. Footage shot later at daybreak showed the house gutted, charred and blackened from the inside out. In a statement, the Israeli military said soldiers and police forces worked “to disperse Israeli rioters and protect the residents of the area.” Two suspects had been apprehended, the statement added, after “more than 100 Israelis … blocked roads, set tires on fire and hurled rocks toward security forces.” Three border police officers were left with light injuries, and a security forces vehicle had been damaged in the attack, the statement said, adding: “The security establishment strongly condemns any harm to security personnel while carrying out their duties, as well as acts of vandalism and damage to property” Netanyahu, however, continued to minimize the daily settler attacks, calling them the work of a “handful of rioters.” He condemned the “violent riots” overnight, though he made no mention of the attacks on Palestinians, addressing only those on security forces. “The handful of rioters do not represent the law-abiding settler community in Judea and Samaria,” he said, using the biblical name for the West Bank. But his main challenger in next month’s election, Gadi Eisenkot, while not calling out Netanyahu by name, made it clear where he believed the blame lay. “This is what anarchy and loss of control look like, which have reached new heights under the current government. This reality, in which each person does what is right in their own eyes, is not a malfunction and not a mistake, but a direct result of a dangerous policy.” The settlers who carried out the attack in Jalud overnight are the same group who besieged the home of a Palestinian-American in the neighboring village of Qusra last month, local residents say. The settlers have established an illegal outpost in the area and have attacked Palestinians almost daily. Dozens of illegal Israeli settler outposts have been rubber stamped by the Israeli government over the last three years. Israeli settlement watchdog organization Peace Now called out the Israeli government’s “double standards.” “This is not a minority, not a handful and not weeds. This is a large and organized Jewish terror militia, backed and funded by your government, operating from the outposts and farms that you legalized and allowed,” the group said in a statement.