Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Kings 16:34

"In his days did Hiel the Beth-elite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof with the loss of Abiram his first-born, and set up the gates thereof with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun." — 1 Kings 16:34 (ASV)

This event is presented as proof of the general impiety of Ahab’s time. The curse of Joshua against the man who would rebuild Jericho had, until now, been believed and respected. But faith in the old religion had now decayed so much that Joshua’s curse had lost its power. Hiel, a Bethelite of wealth and station, undertook to restore the long-ruined fortress, but he suffered for his rashness. In exact accordance with the words of Joshua’s curse, he lost his firstborn son when he began to lay the foundations anew, and his youngest son when he completed his work by setting up the gates.

We should not assume that Jericho had been completely uninhabited until this time. It was, however, a ruined and desolate place without the necessary protection of walls, likely containing only a few houses (Judges 3:13). Hiel re-established it as a city, and it soon became a place of some importance once more (2 Chronicles 28:15).