In the village of Qusra in the occupied West Bank, there has been a recent incident of militant Israeli settlers besieging Palestinian homes, which is not an isolated event. However, the U.S. citizenship of one of the Palestinian homeowners, Loui Ridi, has brought more attention from the media compared to the ongoing aggressive actions by hardline Jewish settlers targeting Palestinians to push them off their land.
Ridi, an Ohio-based businessman, returned to Qusra on August 17 to defend his home where his brother and nephew reside, as settlers surrounded it along with two neighboring houses. He emphasized the settlers’ previous siege in a nearby village and their successful eviction of the family from their own home.
The expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, deemed illegal under international law, has significantly increased under the current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and his ultranationalist coalition partners, who are criticized for tolerating settler violence.
Upon his return to Qusra, Ridi raised an American flag on his building and reached out to the U.S. Embassy for assistance. The village, located approximately 16 kilometers south of Nablus, is encircled by settlement blocs and outposts occupied by radical settlers.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported an average of six incidents per day involving settler attacks causing casualties or property damage this year, the highest on record. The violence in Qusra led to condemnation from the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who labeled those responsible as “Israeli terrorists.”
Huckabee, a staunch supporter of Israel’s settlement policy, referred to the settlers as “un-settlers” and emphasized their biblical claims to the land. He downplayed the violent settlers as a minority, overlooking the broader impact of institutionalized settler violence in the region.
The ongoing conflict in Qusra prompted the deployment of Israeli border police and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) units to restore order and remove the settlers blockading Palestinian homes. Ridi recounted an incident where an IDF soldier allowed a settler to intimidate him on his property despite the area being declared a closed military zone.
For Palestinians, the blurred line between soldiers and settlers exacerbates tensions, with suspicions that the IDF supports Israel’s settlement enterprise. The lack of permanent removal of settlers fuels the belief that the military enables settler actions, creating distress and insecurity among the Palestinian population.
The violence in Qusra highlights the broader issue of settler expansion targeting Palestinian communities on the outskirts, aiming to restrict Palestinian movement and consolidate settlement blocs across the West Bank. This strategy is not exclusive to Qusra but is replicated in numerous Palestinian villages, reflecting a systematic approach to displace and marginalize Palestinian communities.
Furthermore, international condemnation, including from Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, was directed at Israel’s decision to publish construction tenders for a new settlement, E1, near occupied East Jerusalem. The joint statement expressed concerns about the detrimental impact of such settlements on the viability of a two-state solution and the territorial integrity of Palestinian Territories.
