{"id":1176427,"date":"2026-08-30T01:14:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T01:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1176427\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T01:14:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T01:14:24","slug":"israeli-settlers-surround-palestinian-home-in-occupied-west-banks-qusra-israel-palestine-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1176427\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli settlers surround Palestinian home in occupied West Bank\u2019s Qusra | Israel-Palestine conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israeli settlers,\u00a0backed by Israeli forces, have surrounded a Palestinian home in the village of Qusra<\/a>, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n

At least four Palestinians were trapped inside the home on Saturday while settlers set fire to nearby land, according to Al Jazeera journalists on the ground. Residents said dozens of settlers had descended on the village, throwing stones at locals and barricading themselves inside a house while Palestinians were inside.<\/p>\n

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Qusra has faced an escalating campaign of Israeli settler violence over the past month.<\/p>\n

Since August 9, settlers have besieged three Palestinian homes in the Ras al-Ain area, trapping families inside and cutting access to water, electricity and other essential supplies. Settlers also set fire to a mosque in the village in July.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not safe here. We fear for our own safety. Settlers are still moving freely around the house and attack the residents of the nearby houses too,\u201d Loui Abu Ridi, one resident who has been trapped inside his home for weeks, told Al Jazeera. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get more basic supplies, and we have elderly and children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palestinian journalist Sara Abu al-Rob, reporting from Ramallah on Saturday, told Al Jazeera that Israeli soldiers and settlers attacked six Palestinians in the village who were trying to install metal bars and window shields on their homes to protect their families, adding that \u201cIsraeli settlers keep throwing stones and flaming material onto the houses there.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said one of those besieged, Loai al-Bairoty, was injured earlier in the day, and that residents told her \u201cthe Israeli army is protecting the settlers, not the residents who are trying to reach their lands\u201d.<\/p>\n

Later, instead of removing the settlers, the Israeli army arrested the six Palestinians before releasing them a while later, al-Rob said. Qusra Mayor Abdel Azim Wadi also told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces at the scene had attempted to arrest the besieged Palestinians themselves.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu \u2018condemns\u2019 criminal acts of violence<\/p>\n

Israeli forces have declared the area a closed military zone and restricted Palestinians from entering and leaving, placing a gate at the main entrance of Qusra itself. Palestinians travelling into the village are forced to take alternative routes, which are often blocked by Israeli forces.<\/p>\n

Abu Ridi told Al Jazeera the feeling of being trapped is \u201ca nightmare \u2026 21 days, we can\u2019t even sleep, we have to stay up at night [and] keep watching the security cameras, because those settlers can attack any time\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said residents have to coordinate with the mayor of Qusra to get food and supplies, and it can take three to four days to get approval. \u201cWe\u2019re not allowed to live freely in and out of our houses,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Israeli military erected three new roadblocks at locations that encircled the top of the Ras al-Ain hill, disconnecting homes from the area below.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Saturday, the Israeli military said it had responded to reports of \u201cviolent clashes\u201d involving \u201cIsraeli rioters\u201d in Qusra, removing them from the home and confiscating their vehicles. It said forces would remain in the area \u201cto prevent further disturbances and restore order\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a rare rebuke, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X on Saturday: \u201cI strongly condemn the criminal acts of violence committed in the villages of Qusra and Jalud by a handful of rioters who are violating the law \u2026 and harming Israel\u2019s standing in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Jalud, a nearby village in Nablus, a reporting team from US broadcaster NBC News said masked settlers attacked and injured members of its reporting team and a Palestinian woman it had gone to interview.<\/p>\n

President Isaac Herzog also condemned the incidents on Saturday, while Israel\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it \u201cstrongly condemns the disgraceful and criminal violence carried out by extremists near Qusra during Shabbat\u201d, adding that the actions \u201cstand in complete contradiction to the values of the State of Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n

Settler attacks \u2013 supported or overlooked by the Israeli military \u2013 on Palestinian homes, businesses and farmland across the West Bank have been common for decades as illegal settlements have expanded across the territory.<\/p>\n

The attacks have increased in intensity and frequency since Israel launched its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023, in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israeli settlers,\u00a0backed by Israeli forces, have surrounded a Palestinian home in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1176428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[7424,839,12,54009,1814,26],"class_list":["post-1176427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-israel-palestine-conflict","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-occupied-west-bank","tag-palestine","tag-world"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117181812993517758","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1176427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1176427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1176427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1176428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1176427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1176427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1176427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}