\n Settlers have been laying siege to homes in Qusra, south of Nablus, since Sunday [Zain JAAFAR \/ AFP via Getty Images]<\/p>\n
Israeli forces moved into Qusra in large numbers<\/a> on Thursday to dismantle illegal settler outposts after days of violence, siege and international outrage, but Palestinians in the occupied West Bank village say the intervention has come only after the army spent days enabling the settler terrorists and restricting those trying to help the families under attack.<\/p>\n Andrey X, an activist and journalist who was detained on Monday while attempting to bring food to one of the besieged Palestinian families<\/a>, told The New Arab that the military entered Qusra in force on Wednesday night, taking over Palestinian homes even as it prepared to remove settlers.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the course of the night, the army invaded the village of Qusra itself with many armoured cars and a bulldozer,\u201d he said. \u201cThey took over a Palestinian house, and then they ordered one of the families to vacate one of the houses at the top of the hill.<\/p>\n \u201cThe excuse for that is that they are going to use that house as a staging ground to expel the settlers.\u201d<\/p>\n Around 15 Palestinian families have now been forced from their homes as part of the Israeli military operation, residents and activists said, with the army declaring parts of Qusra, Jalud and Talfit a closed military zone while it dismantles an illegal settler outpost.<\/p>\n The operation followed days of mounting international pressure over the siege of Palestinian homes by settlers, whose actions US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described on Thursday as a \u201chorrific act of terror\u201d.<\/p>\n But for Palestinians in Qusra, the army\u2019s belated move against the settlers has done little to erase what came before it, including soldiers blocking access to families under siege, activists being detained as they attempted to bring in food, and Israeli troops seen praying alongside settler terrorists at the illegal outpost earlier in the week.<\/p>\n \u201cIf international pressure dies down, it\u2019s likely that the army will take over the houses and then kick out the Palestinians and pass these houses over to the settlers,\u201d Andrey X told The New Arab.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there is enough pressure, then they will dismantle the outpost, and we may be able to save these houses.\u201d<\/p>\n His warning reflects a deep fear among residents that a military operation presented as an effort to remove settlers could itself become another instrument of Palestinian displacement.<\/p>\n Qusra Mayor Abdul Azim Wadi said seven Palestinian homes had been seized by the Israeli military and incorporated into the military zone, while settlers remained close to the houses they had spent days surrounding.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Israeli forces have now also taken over seven houses located in the centre of the village and designated them as a military zone,\u201d Wadi told Medical Aid for Palestinians.<\/p>\n \u201cThe army did not enter only to remove the settlers; instead, it also entered seven homes in the middle of the village.\u201d<\/p>\n The families have been moved elsewhere in Qusra after being told the operation could last three days.<\/p>\n One of the affected homes belongs to Yousef Hassan, whose family of four had been besieged by settlers since Sunday amid a wave of attacks that residents say has intensified since the beginning of the year.<\/p>\n Hassan said Israeli forces forced him from his home on Thursday morning and turned the property into part of the military zone. He and his family are now staying with his brother.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were not given any official or legal written order,\u201d he told MAP. \u201cInstead, we were verbally informed that we had to evacuate the house and were forced to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n His wife and daughter had already left on Tuesday after one of the daughters developed a fever and began vomiting, symptoms a doctor said were linked to the stress of the siege.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Israeli military said on Thursday that it had dismantled two illegal outposts in Qusra and nearby Jalud, confiscated equipment and detained an Israeli.<\/p>\n It later said Palestinian families would not need to leave their homes during the operation, despite residents and activists reporting that around 15 families had already been forced out.<\/p>\n According to Haaretz, reinforcements from the Israeli military\u2019s 51st Battalion were expected to arrive to assist with the operation.<\/p>\n The military action also came a day after Israeli forces attempted to remove a settler tent erected between three Palestinian homes in the same area but failed to complete the operation after settlers gathered and obstructed the soldiers.<\/p>\n By Thursday, hundreds of Israeli soldiers had been deployed around Qusra, Jalud and Talfit as the military began dismantling structures at the settler outpost in the Ras al-Ain, or Ein Aina, area.<\/p>\n Fuad Hassan, an activist from Qusra, told The New Arab\u00a0that settlers had established the outpost around six months earlier after taking over five unfinished Palestinian homes, bringing tents, water tanks and livestock onto the land.<\/p>\n He said the settlers withdrew into the surrounding hills with their sheep as the Israeli army entered on Thursday, while soldiers imposed sweeping restrictions on Palestinian movement and effectively confined residents to their homes.<\/p>\n The confrontation has exposed what Palestinians say is a familiar pattern in the occupied West Bank: settlers seize or attack Palestinian land and homes while Israeli forces either stand by, protect them or restrict Palestinians, with action against the settlers coming only after sustained outside pressure.<\/p>\n Ameer Dawood, director of publishing and documentation at the Colonisation & Wall Resistance Commission, told The New Arab that the Israeli response came four days into the siege.<\/p>\n \u201cThe victims are being made to bear the consequences of the perpetrators\u2019 actions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAny temporary evacuation of Palestinian families must not become a pathway to permanent displacement or settler takeover.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll settlers must be removed from the land surrounding the homes; access roads, water and electricity must be restored; the families must be guaranteed a safe and unconditional return.\u201d<\/p>\n From settler siege to international uproar<\/p>\n The attacks in Qusra have drawn unusual international attention after footage and testimony from the village circulated widely.<\/p>\n