Ahab is in view. He is the one who commissioned Hiel to build Jericho. After all, all the cities were the property of the government. And so behind Hiel's action is King Ahab.
Jericho's ruins had been there for centuries. The judges, and later the kings, allowed the message of Jericho’s ruins to resound. Even the kings who were so wicked did not touch Jericho’s ruins. King Ahab marks the turning point.1 He truly was the king who did more to provoke the Lord to anger than any before him.
34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.