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Qusra siege escalates
Israeli settlers besieged three Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra, near Nablus, cutting residents off from water, electricity and other critical supplies while Israeli forces conducted raids in Jenin and blocked access to aid for Palestinians in the refugee camp on the fourth day of its assault.
““especially because we are completely isolated.””
The siege began on Sunday when settlers trapped the families in their homes and set up a tent outside, and the BBC reported that Israeli security forces withdrew from the settlement in Qusra after clashing with extremist settlers while about a dozen settlers remained on the site.
The BBC said the Abu Ridi and Hassan families posted messages asking for help after their water and electricity supply was cut and food reserves ran out, and it quoted Qusay Abu Ridi saying the situation is critical, “especially because we are completely isolated.”
The UN human rights agency said the three families—comprising 15 people, including two children—were 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.”
Huckabee calls settlers terrorists
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee condemned the settlers besieging the homes in Qusra as “Israeli terrorists,” writing on X that “Actions by those who carried out this horrific act of terror meant to intimidate and harass this family are disgusting,” and adding “No excuse for such thuggish behaviour.”
The BBC described how, after the Palestinian owners filed their initial report to the Israeli army, the first soldiers to arrive at the scene were filmed praying with the settlers, and it said the families refused to leave when Israeli soldiers initially tried to move them out.
In response to the siege, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said the settlers’ actions, “supported or acquiesced to by Israel, the Occupying Power,” were making life “unbearable” and aimed at forcing families to leave their homes and their land.
The BBC also reported that Israeli forces used tear gas and stun grenades during clashes between Israeli soldiers, border police and a large crowd of settlers, and that the IDF said the border police evacuated the tent and were working to evacuate the civilians there while the incident was still ongoing.
What happens next
As the siege continued, Israeli authorities tried to manage it by removing settlers from the area with limited success, while Palestinians remained sceptical that the Israeli army’s response was “staging its response to the settler siege for the cameras,” according to Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim.
““They are not very interested in helping the besieged families.””
Qusra mayor Abdel Azim Wadi told Al Jazeera that the Israeli army was protecting and helping the settlers, saying, “We saw them praying together, barbecuing together and dancing together,” and adding, “They are not very interested in helping the besieged families.”
The BBC reported that an ambulance was finally allowed to reach the families late Tuesday, delivering food and taking a child for medical treatment, and it said Yesh Din issued an urgent appeal to the head of the Israeli army’s Central Command to protect the besieged residents, evacuate the settlers’ outpost, and hold the latter accountable.
In parallel, the UN warned that “West Bank is on the brink of collapse,” and the BBC said all settlements are illegal under international law and outposts are established without official Israeli authorization, framing the Qusra siege as part of a wider pattern of settler attacks and displacement.
