More troops to be sent to West Bank village besieged by Israeli settlers

ByYolande Knell

Middle East correspondent, Reporting fromJerusalem

The Israeli military says it will deploy additional troops to the occupied West Bank after failing to force away Israeli settlers who have trapped two Palestinian families in their homes since Sunday.

The Abu Ridi and Hassan families - who live on the outskirts of the village of Qusra, south of Nablus - made appeals for help after their water and power supplies were cut off and their food stocks ran low.

The case is the latest to draw attention to the relative impunity of settlers and how Israeli forces are struggling to deal with rising settler violence.

Videos shared from Qusra overnight show a dozen Israeli security vehicles – including a bulldozer.

In later footage – filmed in the daylight – there is a long line of Israeli security forces on the road to the Palestinian village, which remains a closed military zone.

Local media reports say that a nearby Israeli settler outpost was demolished.

Qusay Abu Ridi, who has been trapped by settlers in his home since Sunday with his water and power cut off, told the BBC that the house had been attacked again overnight and that a few settlers remained in the area, hiding from the army.

His brother – who owns the property – is a Palestinian-American businessman who had complained to the US embassy.

The US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said his embassy had asked Israel to remove the settlers, describing them as "Israeli terrorists".

"Actions by those who carried out this horrific act of terror meant to intimidate and harass this family are disgusting. No excuse for such thuggish behavior," he posted on X.

The situation in Qusra first began on Sunday when settlers blocked the road to the Palestinian families' gates and cut off their power and water supplies. The first Israeli soldiers who came to the site prayed with the settlers – an act for which the Israel military later said they would be disciplined.

On Wednesday an attempt by Israeli security forces to dislodge the settlers led to confrontations with a bigger group – and ultimately failed.

Palestinian security camera video shared with the BBC showed confrontations between Israeli soldiers and border police and a large crowd of settlers. The security forces used tear gas and stun grenades.

In other footage, the Israeli forces appear to have confiscated the canopy under which the settlers were sheltering, while leaving their other equipment.

It is not clear exactly what the settlers in Qusra want. In the past, settlers have forced Palestinians out of their homes and seized their properties.

The stated aim of the settlers is to empty the area of its Palestinian residents.

Settlements are illegal under international law, but the Israeli government has promoted their recent rapid expansion.

The Palestinian village mayor, Abdel Azim Wadi, told the BBC that local residents had seen "a clear and sustained pattern of targeting Qusra". Last month a newly completed mosque was set on fire with graffiti in Hebrew sprayed nearby.

That settler attack was one of many that followed on from an incident in the Palestinian village of Tal. After Israeli settlers attacked Tal, it triggered an escalation in which six people were killed - four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers – one of whom acted as a security coordinator for a nearby Israeli settlement.

In July, settlers also surrounded a Palestinian home in the village of Jalud, near Qusra, for more than two weeks. Afterwards, the owners fled and settlers took over the property where they remain until now.

According to the UN's figures, 76 Palestinians – including 18 children - have been killed in the West Bank this year, by Israeli forces or settlers. At the same time, three Israelis – including one civilian – were killed in confrontations with Palestinians and in an alleged ramming attack by a Palestinian in the West Bank.

Since January 2023, 127 Palestinian communities in the West Bank have experienced full or partial displacement, including 47 that have been entirely displaced, affecting more than 6,390 Palestinians, the UN says.

It has registered that in 2026, about 3,800 Palestinians, nearly half of them children, have been displaced due to settler violence, demolitions and evictions.

Speaking at the UN meeting, Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon dismissed the idea that settlements were an obstacle to peace. He said that they would remain and continue to grow as his country had biblical, historic and legal rights to the land.

He said that the Security Council "must understand a simple truth: we are not going anywhere".