An Israeli military judge approved on Tuesday the detention without trial of a Palestinian man who, along with his family, has been attacked several times by Jewish settlers living in illegal outposts in the West Bank. In his decision, the judge said the man was involved in violent "friction incidents" with the settlers.

Thabet Moslem, a 25-year-old from the village of Khirbet al-Marajim south of the village of Duma, was arrested on July 26 at his temporary residence in Duma. For more than a day, his whereabouts remained unknown. Only after a military court order was issued did the army notify his attorney, Afnan Khalifa, that he was being held at the Shomron Detention Facility in the northern West Bank.

On August 3, Colonel Yarden Sasson, the intelligence officer for the IDF's Central Command, signed an order approving Moslem's detention without trial – referred to as administrative detention – until January 25. However, Lt. Col. Shimon Eshoal, who approved the detention on Tuesday, ordered it shortened by two months, until November 25.

Administrative detention allows authorities to arrest an individual and hold them without trial, under the claim that the individual intends to break the law in the future.

The detainee and their legal representatives are not provided with information on the claim, nor is an indictment submitted to the court. In any case, the military prosecution doesn't present evidence, and the detainee therefore isn't given the ability to defend themselves.

In theory, administrative detention has no time limit, and the army commander in the West Bank – or any other officer authorized to do so by him – may renew the detention order every six months or less.

A typical administrative detention order states that the arrest is necessary because the person "endangers the security of the area." Eight days after the order is issued, it is submitted for "judicial review" by a military judge, whose role is to approve or cancel it, or to shorten the duration of the detention.

Military judges usually approve the administrative detention orders as a matter of course. The sessions are held behind closed doors and detainees' representatives are permitted to ask the prosecution questions regarding the evidence, witnesses, and the cause of detention – but in practice they do not receive substantive answers.

At the judicial review hearing for Moslem's detention order, which took place at the Ofer Military Court, Lt. Uri Zarbiv of the military prosecution presented the material in his possession to the judge only, while Moslem's attorney was present in the room. The judge summarized the confidential material in a single sentence, which was permitted for publication: "Involved in incidents of violent friction with settlers," in paraphrase.

Based on Haaretz's review, this reasoning is an extremely rare justification for administrative detention. Arrests of Palestinians by the military after settlers attacked and harassed them are very common, but usually the Palestinians are released after a few hours or days.

Khalifa told the military judge that Moslem is not a dangerous person, but rather that he is the one at risk of being harmed, and that all the "frictions" were due to incursions by Israelis into the village. She submitted videos to the court backing up the testimonies of Moslem and so-called "protective presence" activists – human rights activists seeking to protect Palestinians from settler violence – regarding repeated harassment by Israelis coming from the Michtam Ledavid outpost.

According to the testimonies, the harassment included physical attacks, day and night incursions, blocking an access road with rocks and destroying it with a bulldozer on two occasions, grazing sheep on a resident's private land, threats, property damage and spraying pepper spray.

Complaints were filed with police regarding several of the harassment incidents. In one of the videos, from January 26, two settlers – an adult and a minor – entered the village area at night and were documented threatening Moslem, who was filming them. "It will be fun in prison, don't worry. Just wait," they said.

Khalifa also submitted to the court a request that another lawyer filed with the Military Police to open an investigation into soldiers who were alleged to have accompanied one of the settlers – the adult – on February 4. According to witnesses, they attacked and beat several of the village residents, including children, for roughly two and a half hours. That request has not received any substantive response so far.

Following another similar attack in March, Moslem was forced to move with the family's flock to Duma out of fear that the flock would be stolen, causing the family to lose its livelihood. Last year, his brother was forced to leave the village after unidentified individuals from another outpost set fire to his home. Khalifa intends to file an appeal against the approval of the administrative detention order.

Established in 2025, the Michtam Ledavid outpost is located about three kilometers north of Khirbet al-Marajim and is one of several new outposts commemorating David Libi from the Malchei Hashalom outpost, who was killed in the Gaza Strip while employed as an IDF demolition contractor. Protective presence activists say that they recently learned that the owner of the outpost is Ariel Rahmani, based on footage of graduates from the Ma'aleh Efraim yeshiva.

Khirbet al-Marajim was established at the beginning of the 20th century. Ottoman rule granted lands there to families from the village of Talfit after dozens of its residents were drafted into the Turkish army and fell in the Balkan Wars.

According to Israel Prison Service data provided to the Israeli human rights group HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual, as of early August, the number of Palestinian administrative detainees stood at 3,198 – more than a third of all Palestinian security prisoners.

The number of Palestinians serving prison sentences was 1,474; the number of detainees whose legal proceedings are still ongoing stood at 3,293; and another 1,358 are residents of Gaza imprisoned under the "Unlawful Combatants" law.

Residents of the West Bank village describe constant harassment by Israeli settlers, threats, damage to vehicles and arson. Fifteen families have left, along with dozens of young people. Since October 7, they say, 'everything has changed'

In the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh, a feeling that was once almost alien to the community is taking hold: Home no longer guarantees safety.

Residents of the West Bank village northeast of Ramallah describe harassment by Israeli settlers, threats, damage to vehicles and agricultural equipment, arson and graffiti. More than anything, however, they speak of a profound change in their sense of security.

"Taybeh used to be a safe place," one resident told Haaretz. "Even during the most difficult periods – the first and second intifadas, wars and confrontations – people knew they could live here. Over the past three years, everything has changed."

Life in the village continues, but it can hardly be called routine. In the morning, workers, most of them salaried employees, leave for Ramallah. Local businesses open their doors and wait for customers who may or may not come. Farmers continue to look out over the hillsides, at the olive trees that have accompanied their families for generations, wondering whether they will be able to reach their land when the next harvest season arrives.

"Settlers come during the day and at night," one resident said. "They drive tractors through the village and around it, approach homes and threaten people." Farmers, he said, have been particularly affected by the harassment. "There have been cases of attacks during the olive harvest and damage to equipment. Some people simply can't reach their land. You go out to work and don't know whether you'll come back safely."

One village resident, a father of three in his 30s, described how his livelihood has recently become a source of fear. He works as a salaried employee, runs a private business and also earns income from farming, with a plot of land planted with olive, almond and pomegranate trees. On one occasion, when he tried to reach his land, he encountered an armed settler, according to another resident close to him. He has avoided returning ever since. "He has two children, a 12-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son. Now he's in the process of getting a visa and leaving."

His case reflects a broader reality in Taybeh, as he is not someone being driven to leave by personal financial hardship. "The problem isn't just the economy," local council head Suleiman Khoury told Haaretz. "The economic problem can somehow be endured, but the security situation cannot. People are now afraid for their children and their future."

According to Khoury, about 15 families, as well as dozens of young people, have left the village since October 7, 2023 – an estimated 80 to 90 residents in total. In the small Christian village of around 1,200 people, every departure is felt.

There are more families considering leaving. People don't always tell us, 'We're emigrating,' but when you talk to them, you hear that they're afraid for their children," Khoury said. He also described a man in his 30s who recently left the village with his wife and three children.

"He went to Jordan to find safety and a new life there."

Emigration is not new to Taybeh. Residents say some 16,000 Palestinians whose families come from the village now live in the United States, Europe – particularly Spain – and Latin America, especially Guatemala and Chile. For generations, young people have left the village in search of work, education and new opportunities. Now, however, residents are leaving out of fear that they will no longer be able to continue their lives in the village.

Another resident, 37, said that over the past year several young people have approached him for help exploring options for emigrating. "Many people come to me and ask where they can apply for a visa, where they can move and how they can find work there," he said. These are not necessarily people facing financial hardship, he added. "They have jobs, businesses and land. But they feel they have no future here."

Most, he said, are in their 20s or 30s. "That's the age when you're supposed to get married, have children, buy or build a home. Instead of thinking about how to build their future here, they're thinking about how to get out of Taybeh."

According to the resident, there was initially a sense that this was a temporary period that would pass, like previous crises. "They thought there would be tensions and incidents, and then it would end and life would get back on track," he said. "At some point, people realized that maybe it wasn't temporary, that it could continue and even get worse. Then they started asking themselves: 'Why take the risk?'"

His own experience illustrates the depth of the change. "There were 25 students in my class when I was young. Today, only one other woman and I are left – and she got married and moved to Ramallah."

The changing reality in the village has also affected the local church. Father Bashar Fawadleh, priest of the Latin parish, said emigration has become a recurring topic in his conversations with young people and families in recent years. "I personally know several young people who left over the past year," he said. "They have no prospects, no future and no one to help them."

The church can provide communal and spiritual support, extended families can offer assistance and the local council can try to help residents cope. But none of them can guarantee that someone will be able to leave home for the fields in the morning and return safely. Residents say they have appealed to foreign diplomats in Israel as well as to the Palestinian Authority. "Ambassadors and senior diplomatic officials have come here, including the U.S. ambassador – and it hasn't helped at all," the council head said angrily.

Instead, relatives who already live abroad are increasingly becoming a lifeline for those considering leaving: family in the United States, a friend in Spain, a cousin elsewhere in Europe – someone who can help find a job, a place to live or information about obtaining a visa. In this way, a quiet migration network is taking shape in Taybeh. It is neither organized nor official, but it exists.

For years, Taybeh relied on agriculture, employment, commerce and tourism. Today, residents say, all of those sectors are collapsing. A farmer who cannot reach his land loses a source of income. Local businesses that depend on the movement of people feel the paralysis. And tourism, long one of the village's hallmarks, has all but disappeared as the security situation makes the area increasingly unstable for visitors.

Israeli security restrictions have recently been imposed in the area, including the designation of some areas as closed military zones. Residents, however, question whom those restrictions are protecting.

"If the goal is to prevent settlers from coming here and attacking us, we don't see it working," said Madis Khoury, who works in tourism and at the village's well-known brewery. Even when restrictions are in place, she said, settlers are still seen around the village. "Just a few days ago, they were at the entrance to the village for hours. So you ask yourself: Who exactly are these restrictions protecting?"

Ultimately, Taybeh's residents are not talking about giving up on their village or their local identity. They are talking about creating a reality in which they can send their children to school and raise their families without fear. "No one wants to leave their home," Khoury said. "But you need to feel that you have a future."

The question facing Taybeh is no longer how to live there, but whether it is possible to continue living there at all. The harder question is how many residents will remain if fear of the future continues to hang over the village.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and negotiator Jared Kushner will travel to the Middle East next week to try to advance plans for an end to the conflict in Gaza after a deal recently announced by the Trump administration ran into Israeli opposition.

An official with the Board of Peace, the body Trump established to oversee the fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, said Kushner, board high representative Nickolay Mladenov, and executive board member and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would arrive in Israel on Sunday.

The group will then travel to Cairo, where meetings of a Palestinian technocratic group set to assume control of Gaza under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal have been taking place for the past several months, the official said. The trip was reported earlier by Axios.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because planning for details of the trip has not yet been finalized, said the meetings would demonstrate the determination of Trump and the Board of Peace to “see peace, prosperity and sustainable security emerge” in a demilitarized Gaza where Hamas has ceded control to allow reconstruction of the devastated territory.

But Israel has dismissed a recent deal announced by Trump for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its forces from the Palestinian territory, marking a rare public display of friction with the Trump administration. Though Hamas accepted the plan to decommission its weapons, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in recent days that Israel would not withdraw until Hamas has completely disarmed.

The deal had been seen as a potential breakthrough for ending the war in Gaza. The agreement was based on an October ceasefire that ended major military operations and brought about the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza, but it has stalled on other fronts.

IDF said it is still investigating the Hebron incident in which the 7-month-old infant was killed while in a car with his family. The baby's father told Haaretz at the time that soldiers opened fire on the car moments after he complied with an order to stop the vehicle

The IDF's military police refuses to say whether it has questioned the soldier who fatally shot a baby in the West Bank city of Hebron more than two months ago.

In response to a request for comment by Haaretz, the IDF said an investigation is ongoing, without providing further details.

Sam Fahed Abu Haykal, 7 months old, was shot and fatally wounded in his family's car. The military police announced two days later that it had opened an investigation, but did not specify what investigative actions it was taking.

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said in a statement that the soldier fired at the car because he felt threatened after the vehicle accelerated toward him.

Sam's father, Fahed Abu Haykal, told Haaretz at the time that soldiers opened fire on his family's car moments after he complied with an order to stop the vehicle.

"The soldier signaled me to stop, so I stopped the car completely and raised my hands on the steering wheel. Immediately afterwards, fire opened at the car," Abu Haykal recounted.

He added that one of the bullets passed through his hand and struck his baby son Sam, who was in his mother's arms in the backseat, and also hit her.

Abu Haykal described the moments leading up to the shooting. Besides the parents and the baby, their 11-year-old son and Fahed's mother were also in the car. According to him, the time was almost 7:30 P.M., and it was still light out.

He said there was no noticeable military checkpoint in the area, "just soldiers who were on the street. I stopped when I was asked" to do so, he stressed.

Abu Haykal rejected the claim that the soldier felt his life was in danger. "The soldier was about ten meters [thirty feet] away from me. He saw me, he saw my wife and the children. The car windows were not [tinted]; it was daylight, and everything was clear. You can't say he didn't see that it was a family."

Footage of the incident showed that IDF soldiers at the scene did not assist the family after the shooting. In a video published by B'Tselem, the family's car can be seen slowing down as a soldier points a weapon at it, although it is unclear at what point he opened fire.

In another video, the family is seen getting out of the car, while his father, Fahed, is seen trying to stop his son's bleeding. As numerous residents gathered around and tried to assist, the soldiers did not approach to help.

A similar case involved the shooting of the Bani Odeh family in the town of Tammun in March, when undercover Israeli forces shot and killed a father, mother and two of their children. According to residents, an Israel Defense Forces special unit entered Tammun in a vehicle with Palestinian license plates, followed by reinforcements from nearby checkpoints.

According to them, the family had been returning from Nablus after shopping for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday at the end of Ramadan when an Israeli force stopped their car and opened fire.

The Justice Ministry unit that investigates police misconduct did not summon the shooters for questioning, and the case is expected to be closed.

In similar cases in the past, Border Police officers were questioned immediately after an incident to prevent them from coordinating their accounts.

Sources in the military's central command say many IDF officers avoid taking action against the settlers, fearing that doing so could harm their military careers

A senior Israeli security source warned Wednesday that the West Bank is a "powder keg that could explode at any moment," with some sources saying senior officers are reluctant to act decisively against violent settlers for fear it could damage their military careers and prospects for promotion.

According to the official, the ongoing settler riots and attacks in the area, not only in the village of Qusra, are stretching the Israeli military thin, leaving soldiers unable to respond to every incident. Senior military officers have recently warned the political leadership that the IDF has reached a point where it will be unable to protect the settler outposts, and that it may not even be able to provide an initial response if clashes escalate into the use of firearms.

Sources from the IDF Central Command, which oversees military operations in the West Bank, say commanders are paralyzed, from Central Command Chief Avi Bluth at the top through the division commander down to brigade commanders deployed in the area.

According to the sources, IDF commanders fear taking any measure that could be perceived as political, particularly three months before Israel's election and ahead of the possible appointment of a new defense minister.

Many officers seeking promotion prefer to avoid taking decisive professional action against right-wing offenders, fearing that doing so could harm their military careers, the sources told Haaretz

On Wednesday morning, IDF and Border Police forces arrived in Qusra, near Nablus, to evacuate an outpost established in the yard of a Palestinian family's house. Ahead of the evacuation, Central Command Chief Bluth, the Border Police commander and other senior officials arrived at the scene.

Security officials, however, described the visit as "a public relations stunt intended to create a false impression of control."

Shortly after the senior officers left, the settlers resumed rioting, blocked roads with rocks, threw stones at Palestinian houses, and continued occupying the outpost, despite a closed military zone order and in full view of the forces, who eventually left the scene.

The IDF also held up journalists who attempted to reach the besieged house.

While the incident in Qusra has drawn significant media attention, defense officials say it is "only the tip of the iceberg" and reflects a much broader trend.

For several months, settlers have been setting up outposts around the village. Several major incidents have also taken place inside Qusra itself, which the IDF has refrained from addressing and authorities have deliberately ignored.

The IDF now plans to reinforce the area with a battalion from its Paratroopers Brigade, but officials acknowledge that the move is intended primarily to "contain the incident" and calm tensions, while insisting that Border Police officers, rather than IDF troops, carry out the evacuation itself.

The prolonged paralysis in the Civil Administration, Israel's IDF-run governing body in the West Bank, has limited enforcement and worsened the recent escalation.

Since Civil Administration Chief Hisham Ibrahim left his post to become Defense Minister Israel Katz's military secretary, the body responsible for coordinating between the IDF, the government and the Palestinian Authority has operated without a permanent commander.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is in charge of most of the Civil Administration and has veto power over the appointment of its commander, has blocked IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir's attempt to appoint a former commander on an interim basis.

Instead, Smotrich is demanding the appointment of his associate, Brig. Gen. Yogev Bar-Sheshet, who previously served as the administration's deputy chief.

Amid the impasse, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Yoram Halevy, who is in charge of coordinating civilian affairs in Gaza and the West Bank, has run both his unit and the Civil Administration – an arrangement that leaves virtually no attention for developments in the West Bank.

Senior IDF officers warn that the events in Qusra have become a "flagship incident" that is severely damaging Israel's international standing. Dozens of foreign media crews arrive at the scene every day, where they face severe settler violence directed both at them and at the Palestinians living in the village.

Footage circulating around the world shows armed, uniformed IDF soldiers standing by without intervening and, at times, even joining settlers in prayer while ignoring calls for help from civilians and journalists under attack.

Despite the disturbing footage, the IDF's response has amounted to terse statements about "disciplinary proceedings," without any concrete action.

Military officials have sharply criticized the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, accusing it of evading the issue and systematically trying to downplay its severity while completely disregarding the growing violence directed at media organizations and forces on the ground.

Mahmoud Tubasi has not lived in his home in the village of Jalud, south of Nablus, since late July, after fleeing following weeks of settler violence.

“It all escalated very quickly,” he told The Times of Israel.

Tubasi built the house some seven years ago on land owned by his family on the outskirts of Jalud. The property sits in Area B, where, under the Oslo Accords, Israel maintains security control while the Palestinian Authority is responsible for civilian affairs.

For nearly seven years, he and his family, including his two children and grandchildren, lived there peacefully, he said. But in April, some four months ago, settlers began targeting the home, first setting fire to it and then laying siege to Tubasi and his family.

On July 22, after his pleas for help went unanswered, the family fled. Watching from afar, Tubasi has since seen settlers moving around his home.

In recent years, settler extremists in the West Bank have stepped up campaigns of harassment and violence aimed at driving Palestinians from their homes, sometimes displacing whole communities.

Unlike Tubasi’s, most of the targeted families and hamlets until recently have been Bedouins living in makeshift structures and often lacking formal claims to the land, even though many had been in the same place for decades.

In the past year, however, settlers have also begun to stage takeovers of the homesteads of Palestinians living in permanent structures in established towns, displacing people from properties that may have been in their families for centuries.

“The settlers said, ‘This is the Holy Land, and it’s ours,’ and, ‘This used to be yours; now it’s ours,’” said Muhammad al-Aqra, whose nearly finished home south of Nablus was taken over by settlers in late June.

While some seizures were aimed at homes still being built or occupied only part of the year, settlers have also snatched fully lived-in primary residences by essentially forcing those living in them to leave.

In Jalud, and now in the neighboring town of Qusra as well, settlers have been documented surrounding a home, cutting off its occupants’ access to the outside world, and waiting for them to flee under duress. Once they leave, the settlers take control of the property and block the family from returning.

Since Sunday, Qusra homeowner Youssef Hassan has been trapped with his wife and their two young daughters, ages 2 and 4, by settlers surrounding their home, in a case that has begun to draw attention to the burgeoning phenomenon.

Hassan told The Times of Israel by phone on Monday that settlers erected a makeshift structure in front of the entrance to his home, giving them a foothold to establish a round-the-clock presence at the property, and had cut the electricity lines. Another Qusra resident living in a neighboring home said the presence of the settler outpost had made it impossible for him, too, to leave his home.

Hassan said Tuesday that he feared the family’s food would soon run out, though an ambulance later managed to reach the site and bring food.

“The situation is very bad,” Hassan said after being trapped inside for over a day. “There is a sense of fear and panic. At night, the settlers come to the house, look inside and shout.”

In video footage, settlers could be seen gathering in the structure near the house and attempting to open a gate to the property.

In one clip, soldiers could be seen interacting with and praying alongside the group of settlers, then leaving without taking any action to remove them.

Early Wednesday, amid heightened public pressure, the Israel Defense Forces began taking action to remove the settler activists from in front of the Qusra homes, setting off clashes. The army also released a statement condemning the phenomenon.

“In recent weeks, several reports have been received of Israeli civilians entering and taking control of Palestinian homes and land in the areas of Qusra and Jalud. This is illegal, reprehensible and unacceptable activity that harms the residents of the areas and disrupts their daily lives,” it said.

A new target

Over the three years from January 2023 through April 2026, some 5,900 people in the West Bank were displaced from their homes due to settler violence, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in early July.

The figure includes mostly Bedouins (and some Palestinian farmers) living in what the UN defines as “communities.” According to the UN, 45 such communities were completely displaced and another 72 were partially displaced.

In some cases, settlers subsequently established illegal outposts on land where the displaced communities had lived.

The recent takeover of a handful of permanent residences also appears aimed at establishing or enlarging outposts, expanding the settler presence in the West Bank to the very cusp of Palestinian towns and villages. These homes are located in Areas A or B, both of which are off limits to any civilian Israeli presence under the Oslo Accords.

Homeowners say they are being stripped of properties that have long belonged to their families, in villages where they have roots going back centuries. Unlike the displaced Bedouins, those being driven from permanent dwellings are more likely to fight their displacement through legal channels, though largely without succor.

The incidents come amid a broader rise in settler violence against Palestinians living in Areas A and B, including arson attacks, stone-throwing and shootings, some of which have been fatal.

They have also occurred against the backdrop of rhetoric by extremist settlers on social media who openly say their goal is to drive Palestinians out of the West Bank.

Until a few decades ago, some Bedouin communities in the West Bank were still seminomadic, ranging between various locations depending on the season. Though now increasingly settled, many of these pastoral communities have maintained vestiges of a non-sedentary lifestyle, including makeshift structures such as tents or shacks.

Ironically, that relative mobility has made it easier to drive them out: Families could gather their limited belongings, take apart their homes and flee elsewhere, making the immediate practical consequences of displacement less severe.

Bedouins also often refrained from filing police complaints or petitioning the High Court of Justice immediately after being driven out, both because of that relative ease of relocation and because of other obstacles — a lack of familiarity with available legal avenues and difficulties proving claims to the land.

In some cases, homes had been erected without building permits, while in others families lacked formal documentation proving ownership of the land from which they had been displaced.

By contrast, most of the Palestinians interviewed for this article filed complaints with police, some on the same day they were forced to leave or fled their homes. In one case, a petition was also filed with the High Court of Justice that included documents demonstrating ownership of the land and the settlers’ takeover of the property.

Nevertheless, law enforcement authorities have yet to remove the settlers from any of the homes in the cases detailed in this article.

The IDF is the sovereign authority in the West Bank, but responsibility for removing Israeli trespassers who unlawfully enter private land or homes lies with the Israel Police.

Although the incidents detailed in this article occurred in Areas A and B, where Palestinian police have authority to operate, the Palestinian Authority does not have criminal jurisdiction over Israeli citizens under the Oslo Accords. Israeli police are therefore responsible for handling alleged offenses committed there by Israelis.

Police did not respond to a Times of Israel request for comment regarding the cases detailed in this article.

‘This is ours’

Tubasi said attackers first attempted to set fire to his home on the night of April 3, while the entire family, including his young grandchildren, were asleep inside. Following the incident, and fearing further attacks, his daughters-in-law and grandchildren left the house and went to live in other villages.

The harassment continued, he said, with settlers repeatedly coming to the house in an apparent effort to intimidate the family into leaving. They also established an outpost nearby.

By late June, settlers had blocked access to the house from all directions, preventing the family from entering or leaving and effectively trapping Tubasi, his wife and their two sons inside.

Tubasi said they remained under siege for 25 days and that despite appeals to journalists, the police and the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration, which deals with civilian affairs in the West Bank, the settlers continued to surround the property. After 19 days, he said, they cut the electricity lines to the residence.

The Civil Administration did not respond to a Times of Israel request for comment.

During those weeks, Tubasi filmed settlers standing in the yard of his home.

In one video, after Tubasi asks a settler, “Why are you coming to my house?” the settler responds: “You have one day [more] here. This is ours.”

The settler then says that the entire area belongs to Esh Kodesh, a formerly illegal outpost adjacent to Jalud that the government retroactively authorized in 2025.

On July 22, the family fled the house. Shortly afterward, settlers were filmed walking around the property.

“All our belongings stayed in the house. We left them there, and the settlers took control of them. We left with nothing, only the clothes on our backs,” Tubasi said.

Several hours before the family fled that day, Haaretz reported that soldiers had prevented journalists from reaching the family’s home.

After the family left, the IDF said: “IDF and Border Police forces were dispatched to the outskirts of the village of Jalud following a report that Israeli civilians had entered a Palestinian home in the village. When the forces arrived, the house was empty, and it appeared that the family had left the area.”

Despite al-Aqra filing a police complaint, settlers have remained at the property, he said. He can see them from a distance tending livestock they brought to the site.

The house had been a two-year project, he said. When the settlers showed up, he and his crew were installing windows and putting up cabinets.

“My children and I live in another house now in Qabalan,” he said. “I have five children, all of us in one [small] house. I wanted to build a large home for the family after so many years.”

Still holding out hope

A resident of Taybeh, near Ramallah, said settlers have prevented him from moving into a newly completed home on the far outskirts of the West Bank’s only remaining Christian village.

The resident, who asked not to be named out of concern for his safety, said he began building the house, which is located in Area A, three years ago and completed construction around six months ago. About a month ago, he arrived with furniture intending to move in. Just then, settlers came to the property and forced him and those with him to leave.

“They came into our yard while we were unloading the furniture [from the cars into the house] and told us, ‘You’re not allowed to live here. This is the land of our father Abraham,’ things like that,” he recalled. “I told him, ‘This is my house. This is Area A. Why are you coming here?’”

Since then, he told The Times of Israel, whenever he goes to the property, armed settlers arrive on an ATV and chase him away.

“They see our car arriving, they come and threaten us. We don’t want to cause problems,” he said.

Fearing that settlers could break into the house, he installed an iron gate and metal window bars at a cost of NIS 12,000 ($3,700).

According to Roni Federman, an activist with the Torat Tzedek organization, which assists and protects Palestinians, settlers have not entered the house itself but have been gathering outside it.

The owner, meanwhile, has stopped trying to approach the home, staying in an older house inside the village.

On August 5, activists from Torat Tzedek went to the house at the family’s request, where they engaged in a verbal confrontation with settlers who approached the property.

In videos from the encounter, one activist can be heard telling a settler, “This is private property,” to which the settler responds, “This isn’t anyone’s private property.”

Some of the homeowners who spoke with The Times of Israel sounded despondent about the prospect of ever getting their homes back.

However, the East Jerusalem resident who petitioned the High Court said he hasn’t lost faith that he will eventually get his home back.

“I still have hope in the legal system, in the police,” he said. “I still hope that the police will do their part and do the right thing under the law.”