On 9 August, settlers established a new outpost in Qusra, south of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, setting up a tent just metres away from Palestinian homes. They continue to lay siege on three family homes, which are on the outskirts of the village, on a hill. The settlers have cut water and electric lines, and are blocking access routes and deliveries of essential supplies. The residents remain trapped inside their homes, while occupation soldiers and settlers have been seen praying, barbecuing, and dancing together.
“We will remain steadfast and stay in our homes, even if we are martyred.”
Now in Qusra: Qusai Abu Ridi, one of seven Palestinian residents who have been trapped in their homes since Sunday.
This is what three days under siege by settlers, amid the abandonment of the army and police, looks like: pic.twitter.com/8xf9Xwck7y
— Yesh Din English (@Yesh_Din) August 11, 2026
Aisha Abu Rida, another Palestinian trapped inside her home by these settlers, spoke with Al Jazeera, on 13 August. She said although conditions are horrendous, her family does not intend to leave their home. They know that if they leave, settlers will quickly move in and take it over.
“We will not leave our homes, no matter what happens. Despite the water and electricity being cut off, we will remain steadfast. Despite their repeated attacks, which are aimed at displacing us, God willing, we will remain steadfast and stay in our homes, even if we are martyred. We ask to be buried in our home, so that it will remain a witness to the settler’s crimes against us, and against our Palestinian people.”
Preferential treatment for illegal Israeli colonists
Independent journalist and human rights activist Andrey X, tells the Canary:
“We tried to bring food in several times during 10 August. One of the times, we were stopped by the settlers, together with the soldiers. The soldiers told us it’s a closed military zone and we must leave. They started pushing us down the hill, while the settlers were still standing there. “
He says he was pushed all the way down the hill. But the settlers remained next to the Palestinian homes, watching what was happening.
“When I confronted the soldier about this, he said “No, no, they are not the settlers. It is a very bizarre hyper-reality that they live in.”
That evening, official permission had been received for an ambulance to deliver food to the houses, and to evacuate two children. One of these was just two years old and sick. The IOF was supposed to escort the ambulance. But things did not go according to plan.
Andrey X says:
“We were waiting for two or three hours, and then the army finally arrived. But as we started getting to the house, the settlers stopped us. The army had a conversation with the settlers, and came back to us and said we were no longer allowed to go there, and must immediately turn back. As we started driving back, the settlers- in full view of the army- attacked the ambulance, ramming their ATV into it.”
Although the IOF watched what happened, they detained Andrey X and the others, and took passports and car keys. Eventually the army called the police, who searched the ambulance and again interrogated the activists, before finally releasing them. The supplies have still not reached the homes, although the following day the ambulance managed to evacuate the child.
Settlers and occupation forces work together
In a show of theatrics, creating the appearance of law enforcement for the media, on 12 August, the IOF entered the area and removed the settler’s tent. The operation was commanded, in person, by the head of the IOF Central Command, for the West Bank, and the Border Police.
But instead of protecting the besieged residents, evacuating the outpost, and holding the settlers accountable, they left the settlers where they were. As soon as the occupation forces withdrew, the settlers continued enforcing their siege on the Palestinians. Numbering in their dozens, they reestablished the outpost, in exactly the same place it was before being taken down.
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As of 14 August, all entrances to Qusra remain sealed, and the village is under a strict curfew. The IOF have evacuated homes in the village, and have turned them into military outposts, vandalising their contents. They claim they are there “to protect the residents and maintain security in the area,” and have told the mayor of Qusra the military operation will continue until the 16 August.
Settlers have faced no consequences, even for murder
In March, settlers from the Jabal Ein Eina outpost murdered 25 year old Amir Odeh. They shot and stabbed him in front of his father, who was also attacked. In October 2023, Israeli settlers, accompanied and protected by the IOF, also launched a deadly attack, shooting and killing five Palestinians. As expected, no arrests have been made for any of these crimes.
Settlers recently used the same tactics to expel the Tubasi family from their home in neighbouring Jalud. For three months, with the help of the occupation’s police and military, they escalated their harassment against the family. Eventually the Tubasis left when the settlers surrounded and isolated the two family homes. They blocked access and completely cut off all the family’s supplies.
According to B’Tselem, settlers are taking over homes in many villages across the West Bank, including in Turmus Ayya, Beita, and Abu Falah.
One of the besieged homes in Qusra belongs to Palestinian American, Loui Ridi. Knowing all eyes are now on the village, US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wants people to believe he is against what is happening. So he publicly denounced the siege, calling it a “horrific act of terror.” Within hours, he had softened his criticism, instead saying:
“Settlers are not the problem in Judea and Samaria. ‘Unsettlers’ are, …Very small minority who do great damage to Palestinian families & to Israel.”
Mike Huckabee- a lying hypocrite
Huckabee’s claim is deliberately misleading, and although he appears to condemn the siege, he is defending the wider criminal colonial system. Settlers are not innocent residents, but a vital part of the Zionist’s illegal land-grabbing system. It is settler presence in the West Bank that enables the Israeli occupation to seize Palestinian land, fragment and displace communities, and entrench permanent control. These settlers, and so-called ‘unsettlers’, play a vital role in ‘Israel’s’ ethnic cleansing project of the West Bank, along with the military and political structures that protect and expand their communities.
Huckabee has become a mouthpiece for the occupation, and his outcry is false. A long-time prominent Christian-Zionist supporter of Israel, he has visited ‘Israel’ more than 100 times. Huckabee has said “there really isn’t such a thing” as Palestinians, and rejects the idea of a Palestinian state. He believes the occupied West Bank- which he calls ‘Judea and Samaria,’ belongs to ‘Israel’, and supports annexation and illegal Israeli settlements. Huckabee once said he dreamt of a ‘holiday home‘ in a settlement. In July, he also signed an agreement with the occupation for the construction of a permanent U.S. Embassy compound in Jerusalem, on stolen Palestinian land.
As US ambassador to ‘Israel’, Huckabee’s job is to protect & defend US citizens. But he has failed to do this. Instead, ‘Israel’ kills and imprisons them with impunity, while not one of these human rights abusers has faced accountability.
Four Americans have been killed by Israeli settlers and security forces in the West Bank since Trump took office, raising the total to nine since 2022.
US senators claim that in each of these killings:
No one has yet been held accountable by the Netanyahu government, nor has the US government upheld its duty to protect Americans and secure justice and accountability for their deaths.
They say there is “a consistent pattern,” of Americans being killed in the West Bank by the occupation without justice or accountability, despite promises from US officials.
Absence of accountability has given settlers and soldiers free rein over the lives of Palestinians
Residents of Qusra have been victims of settler violence for many years. But these illegal colonisers now feel emboldened by the absence of any accountability. “Israel’ has got away with a genocide, so settlers now know they are free to continue ethnically cleansing the occupied West Bank.
Settler violence is at an all-time high. In the first six months of 2026, UN relief agency OCHA recorded an average of six violent settler incidents per day, and more than 2,300 Palestinians, including over 1,000 children, displaced due to settler violence and access restrictions.
Featured image via the Canary
By Charlie Jaay
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