West Bank Sieges Persist Despite Global Outcry; Gaza Disarmament Deal in Jeopardy

For over a week, Israeli settlers have besieged three Palestinian families inside their homes in Qusra, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, cutting off supplies of necessities and emergency services. This tactic was previously used last month to force the al-Tubassi family from their home in Jalud. However, this time, because one of the besieged homes belongs to a Palestinian citizen with U.S. nationality, the incident has made headlines.

The United Nations, France, Spain, and Britain have condemned the siege, while the White House is reportedly pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly criticize settler violence. Notably, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, a strong supporter of the settlement movement, publicly disagreed with the Israeli government by calling the besiegers “Israeli terrorists.”

On August 13, Israeli forces ordered the families to evacuate, citing that the homes would be requisitioned “for their protection,” while converting 16 homes in the town into military outposts. Troops entered Qusra that same day. During a subsequent nighttime operation to dismantle structures at a nearby outpost, Israeli forces detained an Israeli suspect, but no other settler arrests were recorded. Erika Guevara Rosas of Amnesty International said the siege reflects “a growing and well-documented pattern of organized and strategic settler terrorism that is facilitated, supported, and funded by the State of Israel.”

For a second consecutive week, 15 Palestinians, including two children, remain trapped inside their homes. It took soldiers two days to dismantle the settlers’ tents, but they then erected their own tents in the same spot, essentially maintaining the blockade. Electricity and water have been restored, but the families said they were told not to leave their homes. The same day, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese called Qusra the “culmination” of Israel’s “decades-long lawlessness,” as Israeli officials “seem to be cooperating with the settlers rather than restraining them.”

Despite international reaction, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the military to prepare plans to transfer civil law enforcement responsibilities to the Israeli police. Critics argue this move is practically unfeasible and could promote Israel’s de facto annexation of the occupied West Bank.

Settlers Undeterred

Unfazed by the global wave of condemnation, settlers continue to carry out similar sieges, with soldiers either standing by or even actively assisting.

On August 16, in Beit Imrin, north of Nablus, a village nominally under full Palestinian civil and security control, settlers besieged a home for over three hours, blocking residents and ambulances from reaching those inside. Israeli forces then raided the home, detained all nine people inside, and withdrew. Soldiers also blocked the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance team and confiscated the ambulance keys.

For years, legal mechanisms to dispossess property in the West Bank—including designating firing zones, declaring “state land,” and a permitting regime that makes Palestinian construction nearly illegal—have operated mainly in Area C. The heaviest impact falls on pastoral and Bedouin communities.

Beit Imrin is not in that category. But developments this week show that, as settlers expand their tactics, a pattern is becoming clear: settlers erect tents next to homes and are not removed; Palestinian homes are besieged, cutting off electricity, water, and medical services; and soldiers arrive not to lift the siege but increasingly to take whole families away—either through arrest or under the guise of “protecting them.”

Also on August 16, settlers erected tents for a new outpost near Umm Safa, northwest of Ramallah. The Wafa news agency reported this brings the number of outposts surrounding Umm Safa and Burqa to six, while settlers have already taken over most of the surrounding land.

While new outposts are built illegally, Israeli forces demolished homes in Qalandiya, north of Jerusalem; Masara, south of Bethlehem; and Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem, according to images and videos shared by local activists. The Israeli authorities also forced Sami Abu Rahma to self-demolish his farm in al-Mughayyir, days after his son was shot by settlers while working on that very land.

The Committee Against Settlements and the Wall said the Israeli authorities carried out 80 demolition operations in July, affecting 165 structures, with an additional 34 demolition notices issued.

Gaza’s Fate Hangs in the Balance

A Peace Council official told Al Jazeera on Monday that the body had agreed with Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel does not need to withdraw from Gaza until Hamas disarms—including light and heavy weapons and dismantling the tunnel network.

This statement contradicts the disarmament deal announced by U.S. President Donald Trump last month, which envisioned staged withdrawals parallel to disarmament progress. Netanyahu had previously publicly rejected that deal.

In a podcast with former Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on the military to kill “30 or 40” people in Gaza every night, far beyond those posing an immediate threat. He opposed Netanyahu’s decision to reduce airstrike intensity, called for encouraging Palestinians to leave Gaza permanently, and offered to help Braslavski directly execute prisoners under Israel’s newly enacted death penalty law. Ben-Gvir lacks authority to order airstrikes but is a member of the security cabinet.

Amid tensions between U.S. pressure for a ceasefire and far-right demands for increased attacks, Israeli airstrikes resumed this week, though at a noticeably lower intensity than two weeks prior. On August 12, an airstrike on a tricycle in Beit Lahiya killed sanitation worker Mohanad Saada while he was repairing a well damaged by war. This was Israel’s first airstrike on Gaza in over a week.

On August 13, a drone fired three missiles at a four-wheeled vehicle in Gaza City, killing Colonel Jamal Abu Kamil, the city’s police chief. The Israeli military said the target was a Hamas commander, but police and Gaza’s Interior Ministry rejected that claim. Other attacks were recorded in subsequent days.

A report by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor showed Israel is crushing and hauling away rubble from Gaza—more than 10 million tons have been removed. The organization argues this process blurs property boundaries and risks destroying evidence related to the genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

Essential supplies continue to be severely restricted. On August 15, Gaza’s Health Ministry said only 12 of 34 oxygen stations were operational, with no spare parts being allowed in. Doctors said cancer patients are dying at two to three times the pre-war rate, after Israel destroyed the territory’s only specialized cancer hospital.

In addition to 21 bodies found under rubble in Khan Younis, the Palestine Red Crescent also found the body of Suhail Masoud Shalouf, 14, shot on August 15 near the so-called “Golden Road”—an area rescue teams had previously been unable to reach.

As of August 17, Gaza’s Health Ministry recorded 1,265 Palestinian deaths since the “ceasefire” in October, and a total of 73,399 deaths since October 7, 2023.