Israeli soldiers stand guard next to settlers (front) in front of the Palestinian houses in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank. AFP
Israeli settlers at Qusra, near Nablus, have since Sunday been blockading Palestinian homes, including one owned by a US citizen, with residents saying they have been cut off from food and other supplies.
Israeli occupation forces said they moved into the area overnight and dismantled two settler outposts, detaining one Israeli. The forces remained in the area, while settlers stayed on rocks on a nearby hill even after troops removed their tent and blankets, witnesses said.
“So far, no one has been able to get food and supplies to us because the area is completely sealed off by the army,” said Aisha Hassan, who was trapped in one of the besieged homes.
Qusra mayor Abdul Azim Wadi told AFP that Israeli forces had withdrawn from eight homes they had seized on Thursday morning and that “all residents who had been evacuated returned to their homes”.
But settlers remained in the area on Thursday evening, including near homes they had previously besieged, Wadi said. Israeli forces also remained in the town and told residents they would stay until Sunday, he added.
The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, a longtime supporter of Israeli settlers, condemned the siege, saying there was “no excuse for such thuggish behaviour”.
“Actions by those who carried out this horrific act of terror meant to intimidate and harass this family are disgusting,” Huckabee wrote on X.
Huckabee said Israel had intervened at the request of the United States, its key ally. But video footage published over the weekend showed Israeli troops praying alongside settlers.
The UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory on Thursday voiced alarm over the siege and called on Israeli authorities to “immediately” act against the settlers.
“These criminal actions by the settlers, supported or acquiesced to by Israel, the occupying power, are making life unbearable for these Palestinian families, and are clearly aimed at forcing them to leave their homes and land,” it said.
EU foreign policy spokesperson Anitta Hipper also called on Israel to take “concrete action to prevent settler violence” in the occupied West Bank.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials, including Defence Minister Israel Katz, were celebrating the reopening of another settlement at Ganim in the northern West Bank.
Ganim was one of four Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory dismantled more than 20 years ago under former prime minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan.
At the reopening ceremony, dozens of Israeli settler families prepared to move into prefabricated homes.
“Here, this is the Land of Israel. Here, we are staying forever,” Katz said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government approved the rebuilding of the settlement as it seeks to appeal to voters ahead of the October 27 elections, which polls show are closely contested.
Gadi Eisenkot, who has emerged as Netanyahu's principal challenger, called the events in Qusra “another grave expression of the failure and weakness” of the government.
The US criticism of the siege is particularly striking coming from Huckabee, an evangelical Christian pastor who has long supported Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank and rejected the idea of a Palestinian state.
Violence against Palestinians by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank has surged since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023. More than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since then, compared with more than 73,000 in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities and UN figures.
More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law, alongside some three million Palestinians. Rights groups have described Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories as apartheid.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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