The Israeli military has sent additional troops to the Palestinian village of Qusra in the occupied West Bank, tasked with removing Israeli settlers who have besieged Palestinian families in their homes since Sunday.
DR reports that Israeli settlers have kept Palestinian families trapped inside their homes in Qusra, south of Nablus, since Sunday. Israeli security forces tried to remove the settlers on Wednesday, but the attempt failed and settlers remained in the area.
The military has since deployed further forces to the village, according to DR. During the operation, Palestinian families in Qusra were also told by Israeli forces to leave their homes. Around 12 Palestinian households received such orders, according to BBC.
The village has been declared a closed military zone. Qusra’s mayor, Abdel Azim Wadi, told BBC that Israeli forces are using some of the abandoned Palestinian homes as military positions. The military says the purpose of the operation is to protect residents.
The military also said it had removed two illegal settler outposts, detained one Israeli and seized equipment on the outskirts of Qusra and the nearby village of Jalud. It has condemned settlers entering and seizing Palestinian homes and land, describing such acts as illegal and unacceptable.
Families trapped in their homes
Al Jazeera reported that three Palestinian families were caught in the siege. One of the properties belongs to Loai Ridi, a Palestinian-American businessman, whose brother Qusay Abu Ridi was inside the house. Ridi told Al Jazeera that his brother would not leave, fearing settlers would immediately take over the home.
Ridi contacted the US embassy about the situation. The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has since said the embassy asked Israel to remove the settlers, describing them as Israeli terrorists and their actions against the family as abhorrent.
Palestinian surveillance footage cited by DR shows settlers tearing down a wall outside the Abu Ridi family home on Sunday evening and using the stones to block the road. Seven people, including two young girls, were unable to leave, while other Palestinians could not reach them.
Aysha Hassan, a member of another affected family, told Reuters that settlers tried to break through the gate and threw stones. She described the family as extremely frightened during the siege.
Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN deputy coordinator for the Middle East peace process, told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that settler violence had reached unprecedented levels. Wadi told BBC that Qusra has faced a clear and persistent pattern of settler attacks, including the burning of a newly built mosque last month.
The UN has recorded around 3,800 Palestinians displaced in 2026 as a result of settler violence, demolitions and evictions. Nearly half of them are children. Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law.
