Israeli Forces Move Into Qusra to Break Settler Siege; US Envoy Calls It an 'Act of Terror'

Israeli security forces moved into the Palestinian town of Qusra, near Nablus, on Thursday to confront extremist settlers who had besieged several homes since Sunday, cutting off residents from food and basic supplies. The intervention followed unusually strong public criticism from Washington and international calls for action.

The Israeli military said it dispatched units overnight, dismantled two makeshift outposts and detained one Israeli suspect. Troops remained deployed in the town "to protect the residents and maintain security," the army said. Witnesses, however, reported that some settlers remained positioned on rocky slopes above Qusra even after tents and blankets were removed.

Trapped residents described dire conditions. "So far, no one has been able to get food and supplies to us because the area is completely sealed off by the army," said Aisha Hassan, who is sheltering inside one of the besieged homes. Qusra's mayor, Abdul Azim Wadi, told AFP the army had withdrawn from eight houses it had entered earlier in the day and that families who had been evacuated had returned.

Video footage circulated over the weekend appeared to show Israeli soldiers praying alongside settlers, prompting the military to pledge a response. The UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory urged Israeli authorities to "immediately" act to stop settler violence, saying such criminal actions are aimed at forcing Palestinian families from their homes. The EU also called on Israel to take "concrete action to prevent settler violence."

US Response: The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called the siege an "act of terror" and said there was "no excuse for such thuggish behaviour." Huckabee, long known as a supporter of settlement growth, said Israel had intervened at the request of the United States.

The operation in Qusra unfolded on the same day senior Israeli officials, including Defence Minister Israel Katz, attended a ceremony to reopen the Ganim settlement in the northern West Bank. Ganim had been dismantled more than 20 years ago under a disengagement plan. Katz said at the reopening, "Here, this is the Land of Israel. Here, we are staying forever," as dozens of families prepared to move into prefabricated homes.

Political context shaped reactions: the Netanyahu government green-lit the reconstruction of Ganim ahead of the October 27 elections, a move seen as appealing to his hard-right base. Former military chief and leading opposition figure Gadi Eisenkot criticized the government's handling of settler violence, calling the events in Qusra "another grave expression of the failure and weakness" of the authorities and warning that commanders were being left to confront lawless elements alone.

Observers note that attacks and intimidation by settlers in the West Bank have increased since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. More than 500,000 Israelis now live in settlements across the West Bank — communities widely regarded as illegal under international law — alongside roughly three million Palestinians in the territory.

What Comes Next: Israeli troops said they would remain in Qusra for several days to protect residents, while international bodies pressed for concrete and sustained measures to prevent further settler violence. Local residents and Palestinian authorities, meanwhile, warned that temporary interventions must be followed by consistent enforcement of the law to prevent renewed sieges or expulsions.