Settlers besiege Palestinian homes in West Bank village of Qusra
Israeli settlers have surrounded three Palestinian homes in Qusra for five days, cutting supplies and preventing families from leaving, the homeowner says.
For five consecutive nights, Israeli settlers have surrounded three Palestinian homes on the outskirts of Qusra, a village in the occupied West Bank, trapping the families inside as food and water supplies run low, according to the homeowner.
Loui Ridi, a Palestinian-American who owns one of the besieged houses, said his brother and teenage nephew are holed up inside. The settlers have cut off water and electricity, forcing the pair to rely on well water while dozens of settlers have pitched tents outside.
Ridi, speaking from Ohio, said he has been monitoring the situation through live security cameras, which the settlers have since cut off. He described a recurring pattern of violence: settlers arrive, Israeli troops intervene and remove them, only for the settlers to return hours later.
"It's a cycle," Ridi said. "They need to be prevented from the entire area, not just removed and moved 100 feet away so when the (Israeli military) leaves, they come back."
He expressed deep concern for his brother and nephew, who are alone with no supplies while settlers roam freely around the house. "If they're able to attack the IDF, imagine how easy they can attack my brother and his son," he said.
The siege is the latest in a wave of settler violence across the territory, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war and which Palestinians seek for a future state. On Tuesday, the Israeli military condemned the siege as "illegal, reprehensible, and unacceptable" and declared Qusra a closed military zone. The following day, settlers returned and attempted to block the road with rocks.