“Settler violence has reached a point of no return.” This was the conclusion of a report issued by the United Nations Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory on August 13, regarding the violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their homes in the occupied West Bank, particularly the events witnessed in the village of Qusra, located in the Nablus Governorate.

According to this report, settler attacks on the residents of this village have increased since a nearby outpost was established in November 2025. They have included raids on homes, cutting off water and electricity supplies, physical assaults, vandalism, theft, and the burning of homes, including a mosque. The report considers that “these criminal acts, committed by settlers with the support or acquiescence of the Israeli occupation forces, are clearly intended to make life impossible for these families and force them to leave their land.” It estimates that “since the beginning of this year, 76 Palestinians, including 18 children, have been killed by Israeli occupation forces or settlers, while approximately 3,800 Palestinians, about half of them children, have been displaced due to settler violence and demolition and eviction operations”.

A New Criminal Tactic: Besieging Palestinian Homes

“We are still under siege,” said 30-year-old Yusuf Hassan, who remains trapped inside with his brother and son. He said his family had begun suffering from shortages of food and water. Aisha Hassan, 35, said: “We are very afraid,” confirming that she remains trapped in her home with her elderly mother, “but we will not leave, even if it costs us our lives.” Dozens of Israeli activists walked toward the besieged homes on Friday, raising the Palestinian flag and holding signs calling for “justice for all.” Drinks and food were placed outside one of the homes, where Israeli occupation forces were stationed. Former senior Israeli officials who previously oversaw the occupied West Bank warn that the army is “losing control of the area and allowing settlers to act as they please.”

While the Israeli occupation forces announced on Thursday, August 13, that it had expelled about a dozen settlers who were besieging two Palestinian families in their homes in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, after setting up a tent nearby and attacking residents by throwing stones at them, many of the settlers returned a few hours later. The Israeli occupation’s operation came after growing media attention to the incident, particularly after it was revealed that one of the homeowners, 46-year-old Luay Abu Rida, holds American citizenship. This prompted Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, to condemn the settlers on X; he announced that the United States had asked “Israel” to intervene. In an unusual stance for an evangelical pastor who has repeatedly declared his support for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, he wrote: “The actions of those who committed this heinous act of terrorism, intended to intimidate and harass this family, are reprehensible.”

A new step toward de facto annexation

While Israeli settlers were besieging the homes of Palestinian residents of the village of “Qusra,” “Israeli defense minister” Katz, accompanied by several lawmakers and ministers, was meeting at the “Ganim” settlement east of Jenin to celebrate its reestablishment, more than 20 years after it was dismantled. The minister stated: “We have returned to Ganim, and we have returned to stay.” Of the four settlements in the occupied West Bank that were dismantled in 2005—along with all the settlements in the Gaza Strip—three have recently been reestablished. This announcement appears to be receiving more positive attention in “Israel” than the criminal events in the village of “Qusra”.

Settler violence in the occupied West Bank is “not isolated incidents; the latest Amnesty International report (published in June 2026) reveals a widespread policy aimed at annexing Palestinian land in the West Bank, where around 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements considered illegal under international law, alongside nearly three million Palestinians.” This policy includes “the construction of new roads, infrastructure, and outposts that gradually encroach on these lands.”

Palestinians’ daily lives are “also marked by the reality of spatial control imposed by the Israeli occupation and settlers through roadblocks, checkpoints, and the construction of new roads that lengthen travel times and make access to certain areas impossible.” It describes the yellow roadblocks as “a symbol of the post-7 October 2023 phase; these roadblocks—placed at village entrances and along most main roads are often opened arbitrarily and without Israeli soldiers present to operate them. They therefore obstruct access to villages, natural resources (such as water), and Palestinian lands, forcing Palestinians to take detours that can extend for dozens of kilometres.”