Israeli Army Evicts Palestinian Families After Settler Siege: “Meticulous Ethnic Cleansing”

Israeli troops have forced two Palestinian families from their homes in the occupied West Bank, despite a senior commander’s personal promise to end a violent settler campaign against their village. Soldiers also seized eight other houses in Qusra early Thursday, telling the village mayor the buildings were needed for a multi-day operation to remove settlers. They later returned six of those homes. Settlers still roam the village. The ordeal began Sunday, when settlers and soldiers set up a tent blocking the entrance to three homes on the village outskirts. They cut off water and electricity, and blocked an ambulance from reaching a sick child. Under growing international pressure, Israeli Major General Avi Bluth visited Qusra on Wednesday and pledged to evacuate the settlers. His troops removed the tent but left the settlers and their equipment behind. A riot-control attempt to push them out failed. “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.” Ridi was later allowed back home, where he found damaged security cameras and stolen equipment. Soldiers still occupy his neighbor’s house. Settlers 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. “I am afraid and I do not trust the army to really evacuate the settlers,” Ridi said. “But I sincerely hope they do.” His brother is a U.S. citizen. The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called the siege a “horrible act of terror” by Israeli terrorists. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, a growing critic of the government, called the siege a “concerted and meticulous attempt at ethnic cleansing.” He said it left him “indignant and ashamed.” “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.” 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. An Israeli military spokesman said soldiers were ordered not to evict Qusra residents and would not operate inside the besieged homes. He declined to comment on why troops did not follow those orders. 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.” 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. 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.