IDF: Troops ‘physically prevented harm’ to Palestinian family during West Bank settler riot

Israeli troops physically prevented Israeli settlers from harming a displaced Palestinian family that was being escorted back home to the West Bank village of Jalud overnight, according to the army.

The Tubasi family was forced to leave their home in Jalud in July, following repeated harassment and violence by settlers. A High Court ruling ordered the military to secure their return home.

As a force of IDF soldiers and Border Police officers escorted the family into their home, over 100 Israeli rioters arrived in the village and set fire to a house adjacent to the Tubasis’.

The settlers then began to enter the Tubasi home, where the army says “severe violence” began. The Israeli forces “physically prevented harm to the family and endured aggressive violence from the rioters,” the army says, adding that their actions prevented a more severe incident.

Outside, the rioters blocked roads with large stones, set tires on fire, threw stones at security forces, and set fire to Palestinian homes and vehicles, two belonging to the Tubasi family.

In addition, three Border Police officers were lightly injured, and a vehicle belonging to Israeli security forces was damaged by the settlers.