Israel's military has withdrawn troops sent on Wednesday to end a days-long siege by settlers on Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank.
One family, who live on the outskirts of Qusra village, near the northern city of Nablus, have been unable to leave their home since Sunday after settlers established an illegal outpost on their land. An ambulance managed to reach the house on Tuesday evening to deliver food and take away a girl for medical treatment.
Troops sent to the site had withdrawn by Wednesday afternoon, according to sources in the area, after settlers were filmed clashing with Israeli forces in riot gear. Israeli outlet Haaretz reported that many settlers arrived at the scene after hearing that the military was attempting to clear the area.
Israel's military told The National that its soldiers were still “operating in the area to enforce the closed military zone order”, contrary to media reports that they had pulled out.
The siege is part of a wave of settler and military violence that has been sweeping across the West Bank since the end of July, following a deadly clash between settlers and villagers in Tell, near Nablus. Two reservists and four Palestinians were killed in that incident. Israeli ministers pledged a severe response, including the demolition of an unnamed Palestinian refugee camp.
According to the military, the besieged homes in Qusra lie in Area B of the West Bank, where Israeli forces are responsible for security. Despite the relatively small number of settlers involved, the army did not act immediately to remove them. Soldiers were even filmed praying at the illegal outpost.
On Monday, Haaretz journalist Matan Golan said soldiers “stood by” as she was attacked by settlers while trying to visit the besieged family.
The military said on Wednesday morning that the “incident” at the house in Qusra was continuing and that commanders “expressed their grave concern over the actions carried out by Israeli civilians against the Palestinian family”.
“It was further decided that disciplinary action would be taken against the security personnel involved, who were documented at the site several days ago,” the military statement said.
The army declared the area a closed military zone, which is supposed to bar entry to anyone who does not live there, although the restriction is rarely enforced against settlers.
In July, settlers forced a Palestinian family out of their home in the village of Jalud, which they continue to occupy.
The siege in Qusra reflects the expansion of Israel’s settler movement into areas that are supposed to be partially or fully controlled by the Palestinian Authority. Most settlements and instances of settler violence have taken place in Area C, where Israel has full military and civil control under the Oslo Accords.
Successive Israeli governments have expanded settlements in the West Bank, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition has accelerated the process since it took power in December 2022. The government contains radical settlers, many of whom want to annex the territory and settle the Gaza Strip.
They have also backed major military operations across the West Bank, including in cities fully controlled by the Palestinian Authority, that destroyed three refugee camps and displaced tens of thousands.
“What is happening in Qusra is not an isolated incident. Settler militias, backed by the Israeli military, are expanding their attacks into Palestinian villages and towns, seizing land, attacking homes and forcing families out,” said Yuli Novak, executive director of Israeli rights group B’Tselem.
“Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the West Bank is accelerating and expanding in plain sight.”
