Palestinian homeowner Mohammad Salameh was constructing a home for his family in the reuters.com, where his recently engaged son was intended to begin married life, before settlers took over the property. Construction on the house had stalled after the Gaza war erupted in 2023, leaving the family facing financial strain.
Israeli Settlers Seize Under-Construction Home in Jalud
Residents of the village of Jalud described the incident as a troubling escalation, noting that settlers seized a house still under construction. Raed al-Haj Mohammad, head of the village council, stated that settlers had moved down to within 100 meters of the last house in Jalud, which is another under-construction residence belonging to a local resident. According to Reuters, one settler could be seen walking on the roof of the seized house on a Thursday.
The Israeli military stated that it received a report regarding the house and that soldiers arrived to the area to disperse the gathering, but the military did not comment on the continued presence of settlers inside the property. The military added that law enforcement regarding actions by Israeli settlers in the West Bank falls under the responsibility of Israel’s police, which did not respond to requests for comment.
Broader Context of Settlement Expansion and Violence
The seizure of Palestinian land by settlers is a longstanding feature of life in the West Bank, where approximately 500,000 Israelis live among roughly 3 million Palestinians. Most countries and the United Nations consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, citing the Fourth Geneva Convention’s prohibition on transferring a civilian population into occupied territory. Conversely, Israel rejects that position, maintaining that the West Bank is disputed territory with a Jewish presence dating back thousands of years.
Settlement building and settler violence have long persisted as major obstacles to peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians. A United Nations inquiry reported that Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian villages and agricultural land had surged by 130% since 2023. In a separate incident reported by democracynow.org, dozens of settlers stormed the Palestinian village of Yatta on a Sunday, setting fire to a mosque and buildings while attacking a Palestinian home. Eyewitness Juma Ribee recounted that around 40 settlers arrived from the nearby settlement of Havat Ma’on, directly targeting a house to prevent occupants from leaving while others moved toward the mosque.
Government Policy and Funding
Settlement expansion and attacks have widened under the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to BBC News, Israel’s current government has provided 19bn shekels ($6.2bn) to expand settlements in the West Bank and has sought an additional 600m shekels ($196m) for settlement programs, according to Peace Now. The government has also lifted a 20-year ban on Israelis settling in areas around the Palestinian city of Jenin and is pushing ahead with construction on more than a dozen settlements there, alongside new military sites.
Hagit Ofran of Peace Now stated that rapid construction in Jenin forms part of a wider government race to expand settlements before Israeli elections in October. Additionally, the government has reportedly found ways to funnel state money to settler outposts previously illegal under Israeli law by allocating funds for roads, security needs, and temporary sites in new areas earmarked for settlement.
Worth a look
