Israeli settlers attack West Bank village and block Palestinian family's return home

More than 100 Israeli settlers have carried out attacks in a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, stopping a family escorted by the Israeli military from returning to their homes, which had been seized weeks ago by settlers.

"It was extremely terrifying, beyond words. It's hard to imagine the situation," Mahmoud al-Tubasi told the BBC.

Al-Tubasi, 60, his wife Aida, 51, and their 33-year-old son, Wael, had returned to their properties accompanied by Israeli forces after Israel's High Court ruled earlier this month that they must be allowed to go back.

Mahmoud al-Tubasi said he thought settlers were going to kill him and his family

The family was forced to leave this summer after weeks of settler harassment and attacks. Extremist settlers had set up an illegal outpost close to Jalud and besieged three houses, including two belonging to the al-Tubasis' sons who are married with young daughters.

By torchlight, the family inspected one home. A video shared with the BBC shows that the settlers had already extensively damaged it - smashing holes through doors, tearing out electrical fittings, ripping up tiles, breaking windows and leaving rubbish strewn about. The toilet was smashed and appeared to be full of human waste.

"As soon as we entered the house, which had already been completely destroyed, settlers started throwing stones at us. The army responded by firing tear gas at them, but there were so many settlers, more than 150, that the army could no longer control them," al-Tubasi told the BBC.

Israel's High Court has ruled that the al-Tubasi family must be allowed to return to their homes

The grandfather says that a group of Israeli soldiers protected his family from the settlers who tried to approach them, using pepper spray to force them back. Settlers slashed the tyres of a military van they were put in and then they were transferred to an armoured military vehicle.

Al-Tubasi says that the Israeli security forces "essentially formed a barrier, took us out safely and got us away from there. But they did not take any action against the settlers themselves."

The Israeli military said that three police officers were lightly injured and a security forces vehicle was damaged. It described the Tubasi family as victims of "nationalist crime" adding that "due to the violence, the mission to return the family to their home was not completed."