HCJ 88236-07-26, Awad et al. v. Commander of Military Forces in the West Bank et al.

In August 2025, settlers established an illegal outpost called “Kfar Tarfon” near the homes of two families from the Palestinian village of Atara in the West Bank. Shortly after the outpost was set up, one of the Israelis who established it began patrolling near the residents’ homes wearing partial military uniform, blocking the access road to the homes, stopping residents’ vehicles, and threatening them not to approach the outpost.

About a week after the outpost was established, soldiers went from house to house among the residents living near the outpost and informed them that the area had been declared a closed military zone and that they had to leave their homes. The residents left their homes at once; one of the families even left behind the family’s two dogs, along with food meant to last them a few days, believing they would be able to return soon.

When the residents tried to return to their homes, people from the outpost arrived, violently drove them away, and made clear that they should never again attempt to approach the homes. Following a request from Yesh Din, the military clarified that the closure order did not apply to the two Palestinian families. However, when one of the homeowners tried again to reach his house, he encountered the same group of people who had violently driven him away the previous time, and turned back.

Soon after, settlers broke into the homes, vandalized the security cameras, broke and destroyed property in the yard, stole furniture and the contents of the homes, and took them over. The invading settlers even brought a flock of sheep belonging to them into one of the homes, and grazed it on the agricultural crops in the area surrounding the house. Since then, the settlers have remained in the homes and have been using them for their own purposes. In early July, settlers erected a large canopy outside one of the homes and held a circumcision ceremony for the son of a settler family in the home’s living room. The settlers even affixed a mezuzah to the doorframe of the house, and in a video they posted on social media, referred to the event as “redeeming the home.”

Since the outpost was established and they were driven from their homes, the homeowners have filed many complaints with the police, but every investigation file opened was closed immediately. They have appealed to the police’s call center 100, to the Civil Administration, and to the military, requesting help in removing the invaders and returning to their homes, but none of these appeals has helped. Even now, roughly a year after being driven from their homes, they remain barred from returning to them.

After repeated appeals to the military and the police yielded no result, in July 2026 the homeowners, with Yesh Din’s assistance, petitioned the High Court of Justice, demanding that the Court order the authorities to fulfill their duty: remove the Israeli invaders from the homes and to protect the Palestinian families from settler violence.

Petition status: pending