Families Trapped in Their Homes as Settlers and Soldiers Clash in the West Bank

Israeli settlers have trapped three Palestinian families inside their homes in the West Bank village of Qusra, blocking all entrances and shutting off their water and electricity. The siege started on Sunday, according to resident Aisha Abu Rida, and was still going on Wednesday, even after more Israeli soldiers were sent to the area south of Nablus Al Jazeera.

Security camera footage from the village showed both settlers and soldiers surrounding one of the trapped families' houses. Aisha Abu Rida said that although water and electricity had been cut off, her family planned to stay. They have been getting by on a temporary solar power system and leftover well water from the winter Al Jazeera.

Loai Ridi, an American-Palestinian who owns a house in Qusra, said his brother Qusai Abu Rida and 18-year-old nephew Ahmed were among those trapped. His brother had only two to three days of supplies left and was afraid settlers would take over the home if the family left. Loai Ridi also said that Israeli soldiers did little to help when his brother called, and that soldiers knelt to pray alongside the settlers at the scene Al Jazeera.

On Wednesday, more Israeli forces arrived, took down the settlers' tent, and clashed with about 50 to 60 settlers before pulling back. The Israeli military said it would send an additional group of soldiers, called an infantry battalion, to the area. Its top commander ordered efforts to strengthen order and control. A day earlier, the military said it had received reports of settlers entering and seizing Palestinian homes and land, calling the activity "illegal, reprehensible and unacceptable." The military also said it would take disciplinary action against security personnel filmed at the site in previous days Al Jazeera.

The Times of Israel reported that the extra soldiers were sent after clashes between Israeli forces and settler activists on the outskirts of Qusra made it harder to remove settlers who were besieging a Palestinian home. Reuters reported separately that Israeli troops had clashed with Jewish settlers while trying to disperse them from an outpost they set up right next to Palestinian homes The Times of Israel; Reuters. WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency, reported the siege continuing for a second day on August 11 WAFA.

To understand why this is happening, it helps to know how the West Bank is divided. Under agreements from the 1990s, the West Bank is split into three zones. Qusra is in Area B, where Palestinians run local services like schools and roads, but the Israeli military is in charge of security. This means the same army that occupies the area is also supposed to protect Palestinians from violence. The village has suffered other attacks recently, including the burning of a newly built mosque last month. In the nearby village of Jalud, a similar two-week siege in July forced two Palestinian families off their land before settlers took over the property Al Jazeera.

The events in Qusra follow a pattern of settler activity targeting the village. In October 2023, Israeli settlers shot dead three Palestinians at an olive grove near Qusra. WAFA has previously reported on olive pickers attacked in the village and their crops burned, as well as the blocking of the town's main entrance to Palestinian residents by Israeli occupation forces Reuters; WAFA; WAFA.

The broader context here is a built-in tension in how the West Bank is governed. Because Area B places Palestinian communities under Israeli military security control, the Israeli army is both the authority meant to stop settler violence and the occupying force over Palestinians. That creates a conflict of interest. Think of it like a security guard who is supposed to protect two groups that are fighting, but the guard works for one of those groups. The allegation from Loai Ridi that soldiers prayed alongside settlers rather than stepping in, if true, shows how those lines can blur. The military's own words calling the home seizures "illegal, reprehensible and unacceptable" and its promise of disciplinary action acknowledge this tension. But the result on the ground, a withdrawal of forces after clashing with settlers, left three families still trapped as of Wednesday.

The decision to send more soldiers on the top commander's orders shows the military sees this as a breakdown of control. Whether those extra troops actually remove the settlers from the homes is an open question, especially given what happened in nearby Jalud. There, a long siege in July ended with two families displaced and settlers taking over their property Al Jazeera.