Israeli Army Evicts Palestinian Families in Qusra as Settler Siege Enters Fourth Day — 10 Homes Seized, 2 Families Displaced
The Israeli military has forcibly evacuated two Palestinian families from their homes in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra, while seizing eight additional houses for a multi-day operation against Jewish settlers who have blockaded the area since Sunday.
The siege began over the weekend when a group of settlers set up a tent blocking the entrance to three homes on the village outskirts, cutting off water and electricity, and blocking an ambulance from reaching a sick child [218691]. Two families have been trapped inside their residences for days, with activists attempting to deliver food and essential supplies but finding access blocked [218933].
Under mounting international pressure, Israeli Major General Avi Bluth visited Qusra on Wednesday and pledged to evacuate the settlers [218691]. His troops removed the tent but left the settlers and their equipment behind. A riot-control attempt to push them out failed [218691]. Israeli security forces have since withdrawn from the village, leaving about a dozen settlers at the scene where the two families remain besieged [217809].
On Thursday morning, soldiers returned and ordered residents to evacuate. “The army arrived around 10 a.m. and asked us to evacuate the houses because of a military operation that would last three days,” said resident Qusai Ridi. “We refused to leave. Then the army moved us all into one house” [218691]. Soldiers seized eight homes total, later returning six of them, while settlers continue to patrol the village [218691]. The mayor of Qusra confirmed that troops went door-to-door telling residents to leave immediately and are now using some of the seized houses as military barracks [218945].
Ridi was eventually allowed back home, where he found damaged security cameras and stolen equipment. Soldiers still occupy his neighbor’s house [218691]. An Israeli military spokesman said soldiers were ordered not to evict Qusra residents and would not operate inside the besieged homes, but declined to comment on why troops did not follow those orders [218691].
The United States has sharply criticized the settlers’ actions. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called the siege a “horrific act of terror” targeting an American Palestinian family trapped inside their residence [217998]. Washington is pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly condemn the siege, with officials saying the request signals growing concern over settler violence and regional stability [218660].
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the siege a “concerted and meticulous attempt at ethnic cleansing,” saying it left him “indignant and ashamed” [218691]. “These are crimes against humanity supported actively by the Israeli government, with indifference and total inaction from the IDF and police,” he said. “It is unforgettable and unforgivable” [218691].
Israeli critics say the army’s failure in Qusra reflects a lack of will, not a lack of manpower. Commentator Avi Ashkenazi wrote in the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv: “Instead of sending a police van and arresting criminals, security forces tried to negotiate with them. They are criminals. They think they own the land” [218691].
Radical Israeli settlers attack Palestinians with near-total impunity in the occupied West Bank. Since 2020, Israeli civilians and soldiers have killed more than 1,100 Palestinians there, with only one formal indictment filed [218691]. Settler and troop violence is part of a broader ethnic cleansing campaign, according to the Israeli rights group B’Tselem. Israel has forcibly displaced 64 Palestinian communities in the last three years, with another 15 reduced and more than 4,800 people expelled from their homes [218691].
The same tactics forced another Palestinian family from their home in the nearby village of Jalud in July. Soldiers and settlers were filmed playing football together on that house’s roof Thursday [218691]. Settlers also continue to patrol the area where Amir Moatasem Odeh, 28, was killed by a settler in March. No one has been arrested for that killing or for an attack on his father [218691].
“I am afraid and I do not trust the army to really evacuate the settlers,” Ridi said. “But I sincerely hope they do” [218691].