US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has condemned Israeli settlers besieging three Palestinian homes in Qusra, an occupied West Bank village near Nablus, calling those involved “Israeli terrorists”. Three families, comprising 15 people including two children, have been confined to their homes since Sunday, with water and electricity cut off.
Huckabee said the US embassy was “VERY involved” and that Israeli military and police forces had gone to the area at the embassy’s request to remove the settlers. The remarks are unusually strong for a senior US representative and came as Israel’s military conducted raids in Jenin on the fourth day of an assault that blocked aid access to Palestinians in the refugee camp.
What happened to the families in Qusra
Residents say settlers used rocks and tents to block the homes and cut off access to water, electricity and other critical supplies. The families have refused to leave, fearing they would not be allowed to return and that settlers would take over their properties.
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. The family has relied on a temporary solar power system and leftover well water after supply lines were cut.
Related coverage: 23 Palestinians arrested amid West Bank escalation.
What Huckabee said and why it matters
In a post on X, Huckabee described the siege as a “horrific act of terror” intended to intimidate and harass a family and called the conduct “thuggish behaviour”. He also said the settlers were “illegal trespassers” and shared a video of Israeli military and police vehicles arriving in the area.
US officials have previously condemned settler violence against Palestinians in general terms, but the source report said they had not publicly described settlers’ actions as “terror” or called the settlers “terrorists”. The United Nations human rights agency and the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates also condemned the siege.
What happens next
Israeli forces and police attempted to remove the settlers on Thursday after an earlier effort failed, according to Israeli media cited in the source report. The settlers remained in the area that day, while Palestinians expressed doubt that any removal would be lasting.
More context: West Bank journalists faced 108 attacks in July, syndicate says.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that the families faced forced displacement. Qusra’s mayor, Abdel Azim Wadi, said residents had seen Israeli soldiers praying, barbecuing and dancing with the settlers and accused the army of protecting and helping them. The source report said it could not independently verify videos appearing to show soldiers praying alongside settlers.
The wider settlement context
The West Bank has been under Israeli occupation since 1967. The source material says more than 500,000 Israeli settlers live there excluding East Jerusalem, among roughly three million Palestinians, while more than 700,000 settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem combined.
The Palestinian Forum for Israeli Studies reported that new outposts rose from an annual average of about eight between 2012 and 2022 to 32 in 2023, 62 in 2024 and 86 in 2025. Israel’s Security Cabinet also approved a plan last month for 13 new settlements in the central occupied West Bank.
No comments yet. Start the discussion.