Overview
- Israeli settlers surrounded and blockaded three homes in the village of Qusra since Sunday, cutting off water, electricity and access so families could not leave their houses.
- U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Thursday called the siege a “horrible act of terrorism,” posted a video of Israeli forces in Qusra, and said Washington had pressed the IDF and Israel Police to act.
- The Israeli military deployed extra troops, said it dismantled at least two improvised settler encampments and pledged investigations and disciplinary steps for involved personnel.
- Witnesses and residents reported that some settlers remained in place after the raids and that trapped families, including relatives of Palestinian-American Loui Ridi, faced days without food, water or medical access as the UN warned about people living in terror.
- Israeli officials reinaugurated the Ganim settlement hours after the U.S. criticism, a move that underscores ongoing settlement expansion and deepens diplomatic and domestic debate over enforcement and Palestinian displacement.