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

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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.”

Israeli settlers storm Palestinian village, seizing home with owner inside

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.

Erik Marmor/Getty Images

在以色列定居者将他们赶出家门两个月后，一个巴勒斯坦家庭终于得以连夜返回家园——却再次遭到定居者的袭击。

周二，超过 100 名以色列定居者参与了对图巴西一家的袭击——其中一些人冲进房子并放火焚烧。

这是西岸定居者暴力袭击巴勒斯坦人（有时也袭击以色列武装部队）几乎每天都在发生的又一起事件，这种暴力事件的激增引起了国际社会越来越多的谴责。

这个问题也成为以色列即将举行的大选的焦点，总理本杰明·内塔尼亚胡的主要挑战者加迪·艾森科特将这些行动归咎于“危险的（政府）政策”。

马哈茂德·图巴西位于约旦河西岸北部贾卢德的家在初夏时遭到定居者的围困。图巴西告诉CNN，一个多月后，他和家人最终在7月底被迫离开。

在多次尝试通过法律手段收回自己的家园后，负责协调以色列当局和巴勒斯坦安全官员的机构通知图巴西，他终于可以返回家园了。

周二清晨，在以色列警方和军方的护送下，这家人返回家中。他们经过之前占领房屋的定居者，这些定居者现在住在屋外搭起的帐篷里。房子本身一片狼藉。

图巴西的儿子拍摄并分享给 CNN 的视频显示，地板上散落着碎片，门窗和电器被砸碎，墙壁上留下了又大又参差不齐的洞。

不久之后，一百多名定居者冲进房子，袭击了这家人以及屋内的警察，迫使他们离开。随后，定居者放火烧毁了房屋和这家人的汽车。

附近居民从山脚下拍摄了现场画面，记录下房屋被火焰吞噬、浓烟冲天的景象。黎明时分拍摄的画面显示，房屋已被烧毁，从里到外都变成了焦黑的废墟。

以色列军方在一份声明中表示，士兵和警察部队共同努力“驱散以色列暴徒，保护该地区的居民”。

声明还补充说，两名嫌疑人已被逮捕，“超过 100 名以色列人……封锁道路，点燃轮胎，并向安全部队投掷石块”。

声明称，袭击造成三名边防警察受轻伤，一辆安全部队车辆受损。声明还补充道：“安全部门强烈谴责任何伤害正在执行公务的安全人员的行为，以及任何破坏公物和损毁财产的行为。”

然而，内塔尼亚胡继续淡化定居者每天发动的袭击，称其为“少数暴徒”所为。他谴责了夜间发生的“暴力骚乱”，但只字未提针对巴勒斯坦人的袭击，仅谈到了针对安全部队的袭击。

“这少数暴徒并不能代表犹太和撒玛利亚地区守法的定居者群体，”他说道，这里他使用了圣经中对西岸地区的称呼。

但下个月选举中他的主要挑战者加迪·艾森科特虽然没有指名道姓地批评内塔尼亚胡，但明确表示他认为责任在于谁。

“这就是无政府状态和失控的模样，在现任政府的领导下，这种情况已经达到了新的高度。这种人人都按自己认为正确的方式行事的现实，并非是政府失灵或错误，而是危险政策的直接后果。”

以色列定居者闯入巴勒斯坦村庄，强占房屋，屋主当时在屋内。

当地居民称，昨晚在贾卢德发动袭击的定居者，正是上个月围攻邻村库斯拉一名巴勒斯坦裔美国人住宅的同一伙人。这些定居者在该地区建立了一个非法据点，几乎每天都袭击巴勒斯坦人。

过去三年里，以色列政府对数十个非法以色列定居点予以了官方认可。

以色列定居点监督组织“和平现在”谴责以色列政府的“双重标准”。

该组织在一份声明中表示：“这不是少数人，不是几个人，也不是杂草。这是一支庞大且有组织的犹太恐怖民兵，由你们的政府支持和资助，在你们合法化和允许的前哨站和农场开展活动。”