What's Happening in Qusra: Settlers Trap Families, Soldiers Pull Back

Israeli soldiers pulled out of a Jewish settler camp in the West Bank village of Qusra on Wednesday after fighting with a crowd of settlers. About a dozen settlers remain at the site, which is set up in the yard of a Palestinian family's home. Their withdrawal comes after settlers spent days trapping two Palestinian families inside their houses, cutting off their water, electricity, and food BBC Haaretz.

The two trapped families — Abu Ridi and Hassan — have been stuck in their homes since Sunday. Video from Palestinian security cameras showed settlers tearing down the outer wall of the Abu Ridi home that evening and using the stones to block the road. Settlers also built a structure in front of the house so no one could get in or out, according to The Times of Israel BBC The Times of Israel. As food ran low, the families asked for help on social media.

The homes are in what's called Area B of the West Bank. Under agreements from the 1990s known as the Oslo Accords, Area B means Palestinians handle daily government tasks like schools and trash collection, while Israel's military is in charge of security. On Monday, settlers blocked journalists from the newspaper Haaretz from reaching the families' homes. Israeli soldiers chose not to step in, even though the journalists' car was blocked for two hours. The military declared the area off-limits as a closed military zone, but did not enforce that rule against the settlers BBC.

Late on Tuesday, a Palestinian ambulance was finally allowed through to the families. It brought food and took one child away for medical treatment. The Israeli military, known as the IDF, put out a statement calling the settler outpost illegal and saying that taking over Palestinian homes was "illegal, reprehensible, and unacceptable activity" BBC.

On Wednesday, a top military commander, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, and other senior officers arrived at the scene. They met with residents and said they were "gravely concerned." Video shared with the BBC showed Israeli soldiers, border police, and a large crowd of settlers fighting each other. Security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades. They took away the canopy sheltering the settlers but left their other equipment. The IDF said that border police removed the settlers' tent and were working to remove the people still there. The military also said it would punish security personnel who had been at the site days earlier BBC.

An Israeli human rights group called Yesh Din wrote to the military's Central Command, asking the army to protect the trapped families, remove the settler outpost, and hold the settlers accountable BBC.

A senior United Nations official told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that "the West Bank is at breaking point" BBC.

The situation in Qusra follows another siege reported by Haaretz on July 20. In the nearby town of Jalud, south of Nablus, the Tubasi family has been trapped by settlers for over two weeks, even though Israeli soldiers were present. The family has faced repeated attacks since two settler outposts were set up around them. The New Arab reported that activists say settlers and soldiers are blocking food and medical aid from reaching the family Haaretz The New Arab.

Qusra's mayor, Abdel Azim Wadi, told the BBC that residents see a clear pattern of attacks on their village. Last month, someone set fire to a newly built mosque in the village and sprayed Hebrew graffiti nearby BBC.

The broader context here has to do with how security is supposed to work in the West Bank. Under the Oslo Accords, the Israeli military is officially responsible for keeping everyone safe in Area B, including Palestinians. Think of it like a neighborhood where one company manages the buildings but a separate security firm controls the gates and patrols. When Israeli soldiers pull back from a settler outpost after clashing with settlers, and families remain trapped, it calls into question whether that security responsibility is being met. The military's promise to punish its own personnel who were at the site earlier suggests it knows something went wrong.

The settlers' actions, blocking roads with stones, building structures to trap families, and keeping journalists and medics away, create a direct challenge for the Israeli military. Outposts set up next to Palestinian homes in Area B are flashpoints. The IDF says the outpost is illegal, which matches Israeli law on settlements built without government approval. The problem is enforcement. Soldiers fired tear gas and stun grenades at the settlers, then withdrew without fully clearing the site. That makes the difference between what the military declares on paper and what actually happens on the ground very small.

For human rights groups and other countries watching, what is happening in Qusra and Jalud raises serious concerns about whether Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are being protected. Yesh Din's letter to the military asks for three things at once: evacuation of settlers, accountability, and protection. The UN Security Council briefing shows that the international community is paying close attention to whether the IDF closes the gap between what it says and what it does.

What happens next depends on whether the military follows through. The IDF says it is working to remove the settlers and will discipline personnel. If the remaining settlers stay and the families remain blocked, the gap between Israel's stated legal position and what happens on the ground will grow, likely bringing more pressure from rights groups and more attention from the UN.