Israeli settlers seize unfinished Palestinian home in West Bank village

Israeli settlers moved onto the roof of Mohammad Salameh’s unfinished two-storey home in Jalud, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, before the family could complete the house planned for his recently engaged son. Video of the takeover showed at least six settlers on the property near the settlement of Shilo.

Salameh said he called the Israeli military and police but got no help. He said that if there is law and order, the settlers should leave, and added, “Only God knows” whether they will. He warned that if one house can be taken, “the rest will follow.”

The confrontation unfolded in a West Bank where about 500,000 Israelis live among roughly 3 million Palestinians. In this case, the family’s paperwork and building plans were overtaken on the ground. The military had not responded to a request for comment and police had not immediately responded either.

On March 17, 2026, the United Nations Human Rights Office said Israel had accelerated unlawful settlement expansion and annexation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and that more than 36,000 Palestinians had been forcibly displaced amid rising violence by Israeli settlers and security forces. UN OCHA counted 5,336 settler attacks causing casualties or property damage between January 2023 and April 2026, with more than 77,000 trees and saplings damaged in that period.

OCHA counted 883 Palestinian households, totaling 4,765 people, displaced across 97 communities and areas since systematic tracking began in January 2023, and said that between March 31 and April 6, 2026, Israeli soldiers or settlers injured 50 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Jalud has been hit before: B’Tselem documented a settler attack there and in nearby areas on February 27, 2026, including stone-throwing, arson, a burned vehicle and break-ins to homes.

On February 9, 2026, António Guterres voiced grave concern over Israeli security cabinet measures in Areas A and B that UN officials said would make it easier for Jewish settlers to take over Palestinian land.