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Qusra siege and response
Israeli forces ordered families to evacuate homes in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra, near Nablus, as settlers besieged three Palestinian homes under siege during Israel’s military raids in Jenin on the fourth day of its assault.
“Time is running out for these three families before they are forcibly displaced”
The siege began on Sunday, with Palestinian residents saying they were cut off from water, electricity and other critical supplies, and Al Jazeera reported that Israeli soldiers initially tried to move the trapped families out while settlers remained camped outside.
The United Nations human rights agency said the three families—comprising 15 people, including two children—had been confined to their homes with their water and power cut off since Sunday, warning, “Time is running out for these three families before they are forcibly displaced.”
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee condemned the settlers holding the families in the village of Qusra, calling them “Israeli terrorists,” and said the US embassy has been “VERY involved & the IDF & Israel Police have gone at our request to remove the Israeli terrorists doing this.”
Protests, supplies, and quotes
Palestinians, along with foreign and left-wing Israeli activists, held a protest Friday in Qusra before heading toward three Palestinian homes besieged by Israeli occupiers for five consecutive days, gathering in the Ras al-Ain area of Qusra south of Nablus.
Israeli troops prevented the activists from entering the homes, claiming the area was a “closed military zone,” but the protesters managed to deliver food, water and other essential supplies to the residents.
In a separate account of the siege, Loui Ridi, a Palestinian-American whose brother was among those trapped, said, “It is terrifying, frustration, fear of my family for their lives. Haven't slept in the last two days probably more than three, four hours.”
Ridi said the US ambassador’s words were not enough, telling SBS, “That's good, but not enough because they're still there. If they are terrorists and disgusting, they need to be removed immediately and give us protection.”
Civil enforcement and stakes
As the siege continued in Qusra, Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to prepare a plan to transfer all enforcement of civilian matters regarding West Bank settlers to the Israeli police, with his office stating, “All responsibility for enforcing civil matters and maintaining law and order will be transferred to police responsibility.”
“All responsibility for enforcing civil matters and maintaining law and order will be transferred to police responsibility”
The same account said the move was framed as a step toward annexation of Palestinian territory, noting that with the West Bank an occupied territory, enforcement power regarding settlers sits with the Israeli military.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that the conditions amounted to a “state of terror,” saying the families requested intervention from Israeli security forces on site but their intervention “proved ineffective.”
The UN human rights office also said Israeli security forces reportedly prevented rescuers, solidarity activists, and journalists from reaching the families, and it pointed to footage showing soldiers praying alongside settlers as indicating a degree of “collusion” between the forces and the settlers.
