By David Israel • September 29, 2026
Jerusalem, 29 September, 2026 (TPS-IL) — More than 100 Israelis clashed with security forces overnight Monday into Tuesday as troops sought to escort a Palestinian family back to its home on a nearby hilltop in Samaria, in accordance with an Israel High Court of Justice ruling, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
Three Border Police officers were slightly injured in the clashes, while Israeli rioters set fire to vehicles and structures near the Palestinian village of Jalud, according to the military and Palestinian media reports.
The confrontation took place on a hilltop overlooking the Jewish community of Ahiya, in the Binyamin region north of Jerusalem. Residents of nearby Israeli Communities say the hilltop has been a flashpoint for attacks by Palestinians from Jalud and the nearby village of Qusra.
The dispute over the hilltop dates back roughly eight years. Residents of nearby Israeli communities say Palestinians from Jalud began building on the then-unpopulated site, and that the Tubasi family, which had relocated from the town of Tammun, subsequently built two homes there.
The Tubasi family disputes that account. In a petition to the High Court of Justice, the family said it was forced to leave the hilltop in July following a sustained campaign of intimidation and property damage by Israeli residents. Israeli media outlets, citing family members and rights groups, have also reported the allegations.
According to the family, young Israelis later established an outpost on the eastern side of the hilltop. Residents of nearby Israeli communities have said the outpost was established after violent confrontations they attributed to Palestinians from Jalud.
The High Court ordered the state to secure the Tubasi family’s return to the homes and criticized security forces for insufficient enforcement against the Israelis. Monday night’s operation was intended to implement that ruling.
Torat Lechima, a right-wing NGO disputed the Tubasi family’s account, saying residents of Jalud had used the hilltop as a base for attacks on nearby Jewish communities before building two homes there. The organization said the homes were abandoned during the war when a Jewish outpost was established at the site. It added that the High Court ruling and the state’s failure to demolish the homes contributed to the violence.
According to the IDF, more than 100 Israelis from nearby communities and elsewhere gathered to prevent the family’s return. The rioters hurled stones, burned tires and set structures on fire, the military said. Two suspects were arrested at the scene, while police said a Jerusalem resident and two minors were separately taken in for questioning.
President Isaac Herzog condemned the violence, calling it “a moral stain, a blow to the rule of law and to our most basic values as a people and a state,” and said it was “in complete contradiction to Jewish values.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also condemned the violence, saying, “I strongly condemn the violent riots in Samaria last night and the assault on the security forces who arrived at the scene to maintain law and order. The handful of rioters does not represent the law-abiding settler community in Judea and Samaria. They do it a great injustice and interfere with our forces in carrying out their mission.”
“I stand behind the IDF and Border Police fighters who work to thwart terrorism and protect security,” Netanyahu added, “and I call on law enforcement authorities to prosecute the rioters to the fullest extent of the law.”
Opposition parties described the violence as terrorism.
Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot said, “A campaign of terror and violence—involving stone-throwing, arson, and physical assaults—is immoral, un-Jewish, and undermines the security of all residents as well as the work of the security establishment.”
The Arab Joint List called the violence “an act of terror in every sense” and accused right-wing government ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir of inciting it.
