The High Court of Justice ordered Israeli authorities on Sunday to arrange within 14 days for three Palestinian petitioners and their families to return to their homes in the West Bank village of Jalud, after months of nationalist violence by Israeli extremists drove residents out and left the houses open to repeated takeover.
The order requires the IDF and police to protect the families as they return and allow them to bring in supplies needed to repair the homes and restore water and electricity. Updates to the court are due by September 22.
The justices also issued a conditional order requiring the state to explain why it has not restored the residents to their homes and removed barriers from the access roads. A sworn response is due by October 8.
Israeli authorities comply with the court's orders
The decision moves the case beyond the state’s general promise to coordinate the families’ return, and requires concrete action and detailed answers about investigations that have so far produced few visible results.
The court said the state largely did not dispute the central sequence of events.
This is a developing story.