Mahmoud Tabasi, 60, every day with a pale face and eyes full of sorrow, looks from afar at his two burned houses on the roof of his father's house in the village of Jaloud, located in northern West Bank.
The houses, which were once built with ancient Jerusalem stones, are now blackened and charred - wounds that will never fade from his and his wife's hearts.
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Family's Critical Situation
Tabasi said, "My wife's condition is very bad. She has suffered a mental breakdown and experiences hallucinations every day." After a long pause, he added that he himself has recently been having nightmares about the settlers' attacks.
This nightmare began when he tried to return home a few days ago. On September 29, Tabasi and his family returned to their home in southern Jaloud under the protection of the Israeli army, after more than 70 days away. Before the soldiers left, settlers came and set their house on fire.
Loss of Livelihood Resources
Tabasi and his wife were placed in a jeep and moved to a location 100 meters away. He looked down at the ground with sorrow and said, "My wife was crying beside me. I felt something stuck in my chest. I jumped towards the fire to stop this madness, but the Israeli army pushed us away from the site."
The Tabasi family built their home over three years at a cost of 500,000 new shekels (about $163,500). He smiled briefly as he recalled their past life, saying, "The air was fresh, and we could see the Jordan mountains and Jericho on clear days. Our family was once the envy of others."
But in July of this year, settlers attacked his home. He, along with his wife and daughter, sought refuge in his father's two-story house, while his two sons were forced to leave home - one to Ramallah and the other to Kafr Yasif.
Tabasi has also seen photos of his burned house: settlers had placed tires inside the house and set it on fire, leaving only a scarred shell of it behind.
In the West Bank, violence by settlers has increased. United Nations data shows that in 2026, about 3,800 Palestinians were displaced due to settler violence, home demolitions, and evictions. More than 1,430 incidents related to Israeli settlers have been recorded this year, affecting about 260 Palestinian communities.
Tabasi has not only lost his property but also about 26 dunams (approximately 2.6 hectares) of land, his only source of income. He said, "The harvest season is approaching, and the trees are full of olives, but no one dares to harvest them."
He also noted that settlers have cut down more than half of his 350 olive trees and have destroyed fig and apricot trees as well. Even the fence and metal gate he had installed in his garden have been destroyed.
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