Arabic version: عائلات قُصرة تواجه حصاراً استيطانياً استمر أسبوعاً

According to Al Jazeera, Israeli settlers had besieged three Palestinian homes for a week in Qusra, a village south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. Since August 9, dozens of settlers have surrounded homes in the Ras al-Ain area, cutting off water and electricity while food and other supplies ran low.

About 15 Palestinians from the Abu Rida and Hassan families live in the homes, including two children under seven. One child belongs to a dual US citizen. Residents said settlers from nearby outposts had been trying to take the properties for months. On Thursday, the Israeli military ordered residents of two houses to leave and forced all of them into the third house.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described the settlers besieging the homes as “Israeli terrorists” that day. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the siege, calling it criminal and inhumane. The Israeli army declared the area a closed military zone and blocked Israeli and foreign activists from reaching the families.

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh reported from Qusra on Sunday that the United Nations was able to bring in some aid that morning after coordinating with the Israeli military. Qusra is in Area B of the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority manages civil affairs but Israel retains full security control. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded at least 3,033 settler attacks in the occupied West Bank from January through June 2025, an average of six a day.