In the Israeli-occupied West Bank village of Jalud, Palestinian builder Mohammad Salameh has watched a long-standing family project be taken over before it was finished. The two-storey house where Salameh had intended his recently engaged son to begin married life was occupied by a group of Israeli settlers while construction remained incomplete.
Video filmed earlier in the week showed at least six settlers moving around on the roof of the unfinished dwelling, which is located beneath a nearby hill. One of the settlers could be seen walking on the roof on Thursday. Reuters verified the footage, and residents of Jalud described the scene as a distressing escalation in local tensions.
Salameh said his requests for assistance from the Israeli military and the police produced no immediate help, leaving the family uncertain about the future of their property. "Only God knows, if there is law and order then they will leave," he said. "If they succeeded with taking one, then the rest will follow."
Local officials fear the episode will set a precedent. Raed al-Haj Mohammad, head of the village council in Jalud, said the seized home is now within roughly 100 meters of the last inhabited house in the village. He pointed out that another house under construction nearby could become vulnerable as well.
"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,"
Jalud residents report a history of violent incidents connected to settlers. According to the village council, the community has suffered five major attacks that have included the burning of homes, damage to vehicles and the uprooting of trees.
The seizure highlights a wider, long-running feature of life in the West Bank: Israeli settlements and smaller outposts interspersed among Palestinian population centers. About 500,000 Israelis live in settlements across the West Bank, which is home to roughly 3 million Palestinians. Palestinians in the area have for years reported incidents involving damage to farmland, vandalism and attacks they link to settlement expansion.
A U.N. inquiry reported last month that Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian villages and agricultural land had surged since 2023, rising by 130 percent. Such incidents have intensified concerns among Palestinian residents and international observers about the security of land and property in the territory.
The legal and political status of settlements is contested. Most countries and the United Nations regard Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal under international law, citing the Fourth Geneva Convention's prohibition on transferring a civilian population into occupied territory. Israel rejects that interpretation and maintains that the West Bank is disputed territory where there has been a Jewish presence for thousands of years. Palestinians regard the West Bank, together with Gaza and East Jerusalem, as parts of a future Palestinian state.
Settlement construction and related violence remain among the most significant obstacles to efforts at peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Even Israel's closest allies have publicly condemned settler actions. At the same time, settlement expansion has accelerated under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, which depends on hardline, pro-settlement parties to sustain its parliamentary majority.
For Salameh the takeover has immediate personal and financial implications. Construction on the house had been paused after the 2023 Gaza war began, when his son was unable to find work and family finances tightened. The interruption left the property unfinished and vulnerable to occupation.
"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," Salameh said, expressing concern that further encroachments could spread.
Efforts to reach the settlers for comment were unsuccessful. The Israeli military said it was checking a request for comment but had not responded by Friday. The Israeli police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Residents and local officials in Jalud warn that the occupation of an unfinished house represents a worrying development rather than an isolated incident. The seizure has underscored long-standing anxieties about property security, agricultural access and community safety in areas where settlements and outposts are expanding.