Israeli settlers seized the home of a Palestinian family in the occupied West Bank on Sunday as they were visiting relatives for iftar [the meal that breaks the fast during Ramadan], according to reports from Al Jazeera and AFP, which documented the scene extensively.

Activist Issa Amro, founder of the Youth Against Settlements group, caught this incident on camera and reported that the Israeli settlers monitored the house and waited until the moment the Ayoub Abdel-Basset al-Tamimi family stepped out for iftar to storm the building, located in the ancient city of Hebron near the Israeli settlement area of Tel Rumeida. Having taken over the Abdel-Basset family home, the settlers then unfurled an Israeli flag from the roof.

An armed Israeli settler argues with members of the Palestinian Ayoub Abdel-Basset al-Tamimi family, whose home was allegedly taken over by Israeli settlers overnight, in Hebron city near the Israeli settlement area of Tel Rumeida in the occupied West Bank on March 24, 2025. (Credit: Hazem Bader/AFP)

The seizure was carried out under the protection of Israeli soldiers who prevented the Abdel-Basset family from entering their home or retrieving any of their belongings, Al Jazeera reported. Around 10 people, adults and children, lived in the home, including the family matriarch, her two children, a daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

An Israeli settler takes a picture of another posing outside the Palestinian Ayoub Abdel-Bassit al-Tamimi family house, which was taken over by Israeli settlers overnight, in Hebron city near the Israeli settlement area of Tel Rumeida in the occupied West Bank on March 24, 2025. (Credit: Hazem Bader/AFP)

Haaretz reports that the Israeli settlers claim to have purchased the house, which the Abdel-Basset family has owned for about 50 years. Members of the family insist they had not sold their home and were in fact in the process of expanding it.

An Israeli flag is set atop the Palestinian Ayoub Abdel-Basset al-Tamimi family home, which was taken over by Israeli settlers overnight, in Hebron city near the Israeli settlement area of Tel Rumeida in the occupied West Bank on March 24, 2025. (Credit: Hazem Bader/AFP)

The homeowner's grandson, Ghassan Abdel Basset, told Al Jazeera that his family and their lawyer went to the Israeli police headquarters in the nearby Israeli Kiryat Arba settlement to file an official complaint against their eviction.

Basset said that neither he nor his family has any connection to the person the settlers claim to have purchased the house from."Everything that happened was a forgery, and we will confront it in court," he said. His family has remained nearby to their home since being locked out.

According to Haaretz, the home appears to have been purchased by "Harhivi Mekom Ohaleha," a Hebron-based Jewish group named after a biblical passage meaning "Enlarge the place of thy tent," an organization that includes among its members Rabbi Uziyahu (Uzi) Sharbaf, who was convicted of murder for his actions with the far-right group Jewish Underground.

An Israeli settler (L) and a soldier stand in front of the Palestinian Ayoub Abdel-Basset al-Tamimi family home, which was taken over by Israeli settlers overnight, in Hebron city near the Israeli settlement area of Tel Rumeida in the occupied West Bank on March 24, 2025. (Credit: Hazem Bader/AFP)

Excluding annexed east Jerusalem, the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, is home to nearly three million Palestinians and around 490,000 illegal Israeli settlers living in settlements that go against international law. In recent months, several Israeli far-right politicians, some in the government, have suggested taking advantage of the friendly U.S. administration under President Donald Trump to annex part or all of the West Bank in 2025. 

An armed Israeli settler argues with members of the Palestinian Ayoub Abdel-Basset al-Tamimi family, whose home was taken over by Israeli settlers overnight, in Hebron city near the Israeli settlement area of Tel Rumeida in the occupied West Bank on March 24, 2025. (Credit: Hazem Bader/AFP)

Like much of Palestine, Hebron is a city with a history going back thousands of years. Early archeological evidence dates back to 3,500 BCE. The Israeli state has seized land for archeological excavations. Israeli settlers intended to establish an archeological and tourism park on the site, but the plan was ultimately canceled by the army’s "Civil Administration."

An Israeli army soldier hangs a wooden beam carrying an Israeli flag banner atop the Ayoub Abdel-Bassit al-Tamimi family home, which was taken over by Israeli settlers overnight, in Hebron city near the Israeli settlement area of Tel Rumeida in the occupied West Bank on March 24, 2025. (Credit: Hazem Bader/AFP)

The Israeli organization Yesh Din Volunteers for Human Rights later told Haaretz that said that the police at the Kiryat Arba settlement refused the Abdel-Basset family's request to even file the complaint. "That's what apartheid policy looks like," the group said.