JALUD, West Bank — Mohammad Salameh had a straightforward dream: finish building a home in the Israeli-occupied West Bank where his recently engaged son could begin married life. That dream was shattered when a group of Israeli settlers moved in and took over the property before construction could be completed.
Video captured earlier this week and confirmed as authentic by Reuters showed a minimum of six settlers moving about on the roof of the two-story structure, which sits beneath a nearby hill.
Salameh said he reached out to both the Israeli military and police for help, but received none. He now fears the home — surrounded, like many properties in the Palestinian territory, by Israeli settlements and smaller outposts — may be gone for good. He warned that neighboring homes could face the same outcome.
“Only God knows, if there is law and order then they will leave,” Salameh said. “If they succeeded with taking one, then the rest will follow.”
Reuters was not able to reach the settlers for comment. One settler was observed walking on the roof of the house on Thursday. The Israeli military said it was looking into Reuters’ request for comment but had not replied by Friday. Israeli police also did not respond to a request for comment.
The takeover of Palestinian land by settlers is nothing new in the West Bank, where approximately 500,000 Israelis live alongside roughly 3 million Palestinians. Palestinians have long reported destruction of farmland, acts of vandalism, and violent incidents tied to settlement growth. A United Nations inquiry released last month found that settler attacks on Palestinian villages and agricultural land had surged by 130% since 2023.
For residents of Jalud, this week’s events represent a disturbing new chapter because the settlers targeted a house that had not yet been finished.
“They have now moved down to within no more than 100 meters from the last house in Jalud, which is also a house under construction belonging to a resident,” said Raed al-Haj Mohammad, who leads the village council.
He noted that Jalud has endured five major settler attacks, including homes being burned, vehicles damaged, and trees uprooted.
The vast majority of countries and the United Nations consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal under international law, based on the Fourth Geneva Convention’s ban on moving a civilian population into occupied territory. Israel disputes this view, arguing the West Bank is contested land with a Jewish historical presence spanning thousands of years. Palestinians regard the West Bank, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem, as part of a future Palestinian state.
Settlement construction and settler violence have long stood as major barriers to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Even Israel’s closest allies, including the United States, have spoken out against settler conduct. Still, settlement expansion has picked up pace under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which depends on hardline pro-settlement parties to hold its parliamentary majority.
For Salameh, the situation cuts deeply on a personal level. Work on the house had already slowed after the Gaza war broke out in 2023, when his son struggled to find employment and the family faced financial hardship.
“The neighbour close by has built a two-story house, which they will probably take too, if we lose this house (his) they will lose theirs,” he said.
