Israeli forces on Friday (August 1) prevented Israeli and international activists from reaching Palestinian families who have been surrounded by settlers for nearly a week in the town of Qusra, south of Nablus in the West Bank. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the activists were attempting to deliver food and water to three homes in the Ras al-Ain area.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent Laith Jaar, reporting from Qusra, said Israeli forces had sent reinforcements and blocked members of the Israeli group Peace Now from reaching the families after declaring the area a closed military zone. The mayor of Qusra, Abdel Azim Wadi, told Wafa that Israeli forces also forced Italian activists, who had reached the homes earlier in the week, to leave.
Families cut off from basic supplies
The siege on the homes began earlier in the week, with settlers using stones to block roads, setting up tents nearby, and preventing residents from moving freely in and out. Water and electricity to the homes were also cut off. Around 15 Palestinians, including two children, are living in the three homes and struggling to obtain basic necessities, according to the United Nations.
The UN said they were “trapped inside their homes in a terrifying situation, unable to meet basic needs and without water or electricity.” A day earlier, Israeli forces entered the area and ordered the families to temporarily leave their homes. However, residents refused to leave and gathered in one of the three houses, fearing their homes could be seized if left empty. Jaar reported that settlers on Friday also tried to pitch tents and establish an outpost near the homes before Israeli forces dismantled them.
Qusra has become a flashpoint for settler violence in the northern West Bank. Earlier this year, the UN said it had recorded more settler attacks there than in any other community in the West Bank.
Katz move raises questions about law enforcement
The development comes as Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered preparations to transfer responsibility for civil law enforcement related to settlers in the West Bank from the military to Israeli police. Political scientist Ibrahim Rabaia told Al Jazeera that the proposed move appears driven by political considerations and questioned the scope of implementation.
He noted that the military remains responsible for the West Bank under the current system, while coordination between the military and police is already underway. Rabaia argued that the transfer of responsibility is unlikely to result in police stopping settlers from attacking Palestinian homes. “The police are controlled by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has armed these settlers and supports them in the West Bank,” he said.
Rabaia, a political science scholar and former managing editor of the Palestinian Affairs journal, said settlement expansion has reached an advanced stage, with infrastructure, funding, and planning established to create what he described as “an irreversible reality,” including new areas capable of accommodating larger numbers of settlers in the future.
