Over 100 Jewish extremists attacked IDF soldiers and Border Police officers near the Palestinian village of Jalud in the West Bank, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, ultimately succeeding in blocking the return of a Palestinian family to its home.
The Jewish extremist attackers wounded three border policemen, burned all or part of the Palestinians’ residence, burned or damaged multiple vehicles both Palestinian and IDF, and hurled rocks at security forces, according to both the IDF and other reports.
The IDF made a rare public admission that its mission of returning the Palestinians had failed so far.
The attackers succeeded in overcoming the initial IDF forces in the area – despite the military having upped its standard force posture in the West Bank from 11 battalions (on average 250-400 soldiers per battalion) to 25 battalions and the special forces Division 98 staff being recently added to the area.
At one point, the Jewish extremists broke into one of the structures and were chasing around and cornering the Palestinians and their IDF protectors.
The IDF has not indicated when it will try again to return the Palestinians or how they will be compensated for the damage to their homes.
Even with increased forces, soldiers were spread thin across West Bank
When pressed on how this failure could have transpired, IDF sources told The Jerusalem Post that even with the increased presence, forces were spread thin across the West Bank, and only a small percentage had been in the area of the specific conflict.
Anonymous sources from other law enforcement arms slammed the IDF for allegedly not informing them in advance of the operation, in which case they said they would have provided larger support.
At time of publication, the IDF had not denied these charges, nor had it explained why it might not have fully coordinated the operation with the police and the Shin Bet.
At the same time, the coordination point was confusing because reportedly around 12 border police did make it to the incident at a relatively early stage, such that it was possible that some police officials knew earlier than others.
In addition, one law enforcement official criticized the IDF for not having given advance notice to the police but also claimed that it was unrealistic to think the IDF could successfully return the Palestinians to their home during the holiday of Sukkot, when a larger-than-average number of Jewish extremists were in the West Bank.
However, the IDF returning the family to their home was not optional, nor was the timing, and the military had been under orders to return the family days earlier, but encountered other operational issues at the time.
The attempted return followed a September 6 High Court of Justice order requiring Israeli authorities to arrange the return within 14 days for three Palestinian petitioners and their families to their homes in Jalud.
The court ordered the IDF and police to protect the families during their return and to facilitate their bringing in supplies needed to repair the homes and restore water and electricity.
The same court also ordered the authorities to explain why the residents had not already been returned and why barriers remained on the access roads. The state was required to submit a sworn response by October 8.
Two of the petitioners and their families left their homes in July after what the court described as a prolonged de facto siege by Jewish extremists.
The High Court justices found that the measures described by the state had failed to produce effective enforcement, despite authorities possessing identifying details, vehicle records, and extensive photographic evidence regarding the rioters and attackers.
Previously, the IDF has slammed the police under National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for failing to arrest Jewish extremists for the last three years and longer.
Some IDF officials have also criticized the Shin Bet for doing less against Jewish extremists since Maj.-Gen. (res.) David Zini took over as director in the fall of 2025 and reportedly weakened the department’s crackdown on Jewish extremists.
Further, IDF and Shin Bet officials have criticized Defense Minister Israel Katz for canceling administrative detention of Jews in January 2025, even as Israel has been holding over 3,000 Palestinians in detention since the immediate aftermath of October 7.
Israeli forces eventually received reinforcement and used riot dispersal measures to break up the gathering and apprehended two suspects, who were transferred to the Judea and Samaria District Police for questioning.
Police and forensic investigators were expected to enter the area later under IDF protection to collect evidence and testimony as part of the investigation, which later led to a third suspect being arrested.
“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,” the IDF said.
“Such incidents divert attention, undermine stability, and hinder the security forces’ defensive and counterterrorism activities.”
Herzog, Netanyahu condemned Jewish extremists
President Isaac Herzog called on X/Twitter for law enforcement authorities to act “decisively” against the perpetrators of the attack.
The violence is “of utmost severity,” Herzog said, and a “moral stain [and] an attack on the rule of law and our most basic values as a nation.”
The rioters, he said, have “caused harm to the holiday of Sukkot, to the settling of the land, and to the nation as a whole,” adding: “The violence is deeply contradictory to the values of Judaism.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, responding to the incident, wrote: “The riot that took place last night in Jalud village, which included arson and injury to Border Police, is serious and abhorrent.”
“Anyone who commits these criminal offenses and assaults Border Police fighters and IDF soldiers, and even harms them, are criminals who must be dealt with to the full severity of the law,” he said. “They harm our values. They harm Jewish settlement. They harm Israel.”
Hours later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a similar, though less strong condemnation.
After Netanyahu, Katz issued a rare condemnation of the Jewish extremists.
However, neither Netanyahu nor Katz announced any new stronger measures to deal with the extremists, such as mass arrests, let alone administrative detention.
Central Command chief Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth and the Shin Bet are expected to conduct multiple inquiries into the events overnight, with particular attention to incidents of anti-Palestinian nationalist crime at additional locations nearby.
The inquiry will focus especially on the Binyamin Regional Brigade’s sector, where military officials said there had been a sharp increase in nationalist crime incidents over the past week.
A US State Department spokesperson condemned West Bank violence following the incident, and said that the department supported "appropriate investigations, prosecutions, and legal proceedings against those responsible."
Israelis, Palestinians clash in West Bank
The incident came amid growing tensions in the West Bank. Against the backdrop of violent friction between Israelis and Palestinians and security officials’ concerns over a wave of Palestinian lone-wolf terrorism and organized terrorist infrastructure, the IDF has reinforced its Judea and Samaria Division to a total of some 25 battalions.
Other recent Jewish extremist attacker incidents occurred in the Palestinian village of al-Mughayyir. Settlers entered the area claiming they were grazing sheep. Shortly afterward, reports were received of masked individuals smashing the windows of vehicles and homes.
Palestinian residents reported on Tuesday morning that, overnight, while IDF troops were operating in al-Mughayyir and arrested Mu’taz Haitham Abu Na’im, crowds of Jewish extremists attacked the home of Musa Abu Aliya, the father of Hamdan Abu Aliya.
The residents further claimed that Jewish extremists set fire to the home of prisoner Fikri Musa Abu Aliya and several vehicles.
On Thursday, the Ephraim Regional Brigade received a report of a confrontation between Palestinians and Israelis in the area of the Ammurya outpost, during which a vehicle rolled into a ditch.
The Judea Regional Brigade also received a report of a Palestinian vehicle being set on fire. In the Binyamin sector, reports were received in the early morning hours of vehicles being torched and Hebrew graffiti being sprayed in the village of Attara.
Another report said that 14 settlers broke into the yard of a Palestinian home in the village of Abu Falah and smashed the windows of a vehicle there.
Sarah Ben Nun and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.