The brutal siege by settlers leaves Palestinian families trapped and surrounded in the West Bank

BarcelonaSeveral Palestinian families from Qusra, in the north of the West Bank, have been inside their homes for days, besieged by Israeli settlers, who have blocked access to the homes and cut off their water and electricity supplies. The Israeli army has deployed more forces to the town and has ordered the evacuation of about fifteen homes, in an operation that comes amid an escalation of settler violence in the West Bank.

The situation in Qusra began to tense up over the weekend, when a group of settlers blocked the road access to several Palestinian homes, set up a tent in front of them, and prevented residents from entering or leaving their homes normally. According to the town's inhabitants, the settlers had also previously interrupted the water and electricity supply.

Yesterday, Israeli army forces entered this town before dawn with the aim of evacuating the settlers who were maintaining the siege on the homes. A first attempt, carried out on Wednesday, had failed. In parallel, the army ordered the evacuation of 15 homes in the area. According to Israeli authorities, the operation seeks to dismantle several Israeli settlements located around Qusra. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law.

However, the measure also affected Palestinian families who were already besieged by settlers. Two of the families were forced to abandon their homes and were transferred to a third building, which also ended up surrounded by settlers. According to testimonies collected by The Times of Israel, one of the families was later able to return to their home.

Escalation of violence in the West Bank

The Qusra crisis has led the Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, to order the army to develop a plan to transfer civil law enforcement powers to the police over Israeli citizens who commit crimes in the West Bank. According to a ministry statement, Katz is studying the measure in response to the "extremist disturbances" recorded in Qusra. The plan would foresee the police preparing and deploying a specific unit to act in civil matters in the West Bank, with the necessary powers and resources to act against Israeli citizens who commit crimes in the West Bank.

It is not clear, however, what impact the measure would have on the ground. It is also considered unlikely that Katz can implement an institutional change of this magnitude before the next elections in Israel, scheduled for October 27.

The Qusra case is part of an escalation of violence that in recent weeks has affected numerous Palestinian communities in the West Bank. One of the episodes that preceded this new wave of attacks was a shooting in the village of Tell, southwest of Nablus, in which at least four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed.

Following the incident, several Palestinian communities suffered attacks from Israeli settlers. Among the affected localities are Urif, Surra, Far'ata, Jit, Imatin, Khirbet Imreiha, Iraq Burin, and various areas of Masafer Yatta, in the north and center of the West Bank. In Urif, a home was set on fire and at least one Palestinian was injured. In Far'ata, settlers burned agricultural land and a man was shot in the chest and was in critical condition, according to local sources.