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

Two months after Israeli settlers forced them to leave their home, a Palestinian family was finally able to return home overnight – only to be attacked again by settlers.

More than 100 Israeli settlers were involved in Tuesday’s attack on the Tubasi family – some storming the house and setting it on fire.

It is the latest in what has become an almost daily phenomenon of settler violence in the West Bank against Palestinians – and sometimes also against Israeli armed forces – an upsurge that has led to growing international condemnation.

This issue is also becoming the focus of Israel’s upcoming general election, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main opponent, Gadi Eisenkot, attributing the actions to “dangerous (government) policy.”

Mahmoud Tubasi’s home in Jalud, in the northern West Bank, was first besieged by settlers earlier this summer. After more than a month, he and his family were finally deported around the end of July, Tubasi told CNN.

After multiple attempts to reclaim his home through legal means, Tubasi was informed by the coordinating body between Israeli authorities and Palestinian security officials that he could finally return.

Accompanied by Israeli police and the Israeli army early Tuesday morning, the family passed settlers who had previously taken over the house, now camping in a tent outside. The house itself was a mess.

Video filmed by Tubasi’s son and shared with CNN shows debris strewn across the floor, broken doors and appliances, and walls left with large, jagged holes.

Shortly after, more than 100 settlers stormed the house, attacking the family and the police officers inside and forcing them to leave. The settlers then set fire to the building and the family car.

Nearby residents filmed the scene from the base of the hill, capturing the house in flames, with smoke pouring into the night sky. Footage shot later, at dawn, showed the house gutted, charred and blackened from the inside out.

In a statement, the Israeli military said soldiers and police forces were working “to disperse Israeli rioters and protect residents in the area.”

Two suspects were apprehended, the statement added, after “more than 100 Israelis… blocked roads, set tires on fire and threw stones at security forces.”

Three border police officers were lightly injured and a security force vehicle was damaged in the attack, the statement said, adding: “The security establishment strongly condemns any harm caused to security personnel in the exercise of their duties, as well as acts of vandalism and damage to property.”

A spokesperson for the US State Department told CNN that they were “aware of this information and are in regular dialogue with partners to improve stability and security in the West Bank.”

“We condemn criminal violence perpetrated by any party in the West Bank and support appropriate investigations, legal accountability and legal proceedings for those responsible,” the spokesperson added.

Netanyahu, however, continued to downplay the settlers’ daily attacks, calling them the work of a “handful of rioters.” He condemned the “violent riots” overnight, although he made no mention of attacks against Palestinians, addressing only those against 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 opponent in next month’s elections, Gadi Eisenkot, without naming Netanyahu, has made clear where he believes the fault lies.

“This is what anarchy and loss of control look like, which have reached new heights under the current government. This reality, in which everyone does what is right in their eyes, is not a dysfunction or a mistake, but the direct result of dangerous policy.”

The settlers who carried out the attack in Jalud overnight are the same group that besieged the home of a Palestinian-American in the nearby village of Qusra last month, local residents say. The settlers have established an illegal outpost in the area and attack Palestinians almost daily.

Dozens of illegal Israeli settler outposts destroyed marked by the Israeli government over the past three years.

Israeli settlement monitoring organization Peace Now has denounced the Israeli government’s “double standards.”

“This is not a minority, not a handful, not a weed. This is a large Jewish terrorist militia organized, supported and financed by your government, operating from the outposts and farms you have legalized and licensed,” the group said in a statement.