Settlers Besiege Palestinian Families in the West Bank, Prompting US Outrage

A Family in Ohio, a Home Under Siege

Loui Ridi had built a home in his native town of Qusra, in the occupied West Bank, for his two daughters — girls who grew up in Ohio but fell in love with their father's Palestinian roots during family visits. That dream is now on hold. A group of Israeli settlers laid siege to the hilltop where Ridi's and two other homes sit, pitching a tent, cutting off water and electricity lines, and blocking roads to prevent anyone from reaching the residents.

Ridi's brother, Qusai, was holed up inside with his teenage son, forced to drink well water as dozens of settlers erected tents outside — while Loui watched the siege unfold from Ohio on security cameras. When Ridi contacted Israeli authorities for help, soldiers arrived — and to his disbelief, warmly greeted the settlers and joined them in prayer.

A Village Held Hostage

For five nights, Israeli settlers surrounded three Palestinian homes on the outskirts of Qusra, preventing families from leaving safely as their food and water supplies dwindled. Al Jazeera's correspondent in the West Bank reported that the village of Qusra was "in general under siege," with every entrance blocked by the Israeli army — a measure she said was used to prevent other Palestinians from coming to offer help to the trapped families.

On Tuesday, August 12, Israel's military condemned the siege as "illegal, reprehensible, and unacceptable" and declared Qusra a closed military zone. The next day, dozens of settlers returned, tried to block the road with rocks, and clashed with Israeli soldiers. Dozens of additional settlers arrived, moving boulders into the road and throwing rocks at security forces, who were seen firing sound grenades and spraying settlers with pepper spray before withdrawing. By Thursday, August 14, Israel's military said its forces had dismantled "two illegal outposts on the outskirts of the Qusra and Jalud areas," confiscated equipment, and detained one Israeli. The settlers, though removed from their outposts, remain in other parts of the village.

Washington Speaks — and the Broader Pattern

The U.S. Ambassador to Israel condemned the siege, calling it a "horrific act of terror." Ambassador Mike Huckabee — a staunch ally of Israel who has previously voiced support for Israeli settlements — made the unusually critical comments after it emerged that one of the besieged homes belongs to a dual U.S. citizen. Huckabee also defended Israeli authorities, saying they had gone to Qusra at the request of the U.S. embassy "to remove the Israeli terrorists doing this."

The U.N. humanitarian office in April said it had recorded more settler attacks in Qusra than in any other West Bank community in 2026. A 25-year-old resident was shot and killed by an off-duty Israeli reservist in March, and eight others have been wounded in attacks this year. Violence between settlers and Palestinians last month left two Israelis and four Palestinians dead in a nearby village, and in the aftermath, a mosque in Qusra was set on fire with the word "revenge" graffitied on its wall in Hebrew.

A Crisis That Shows No Sign of Slowing

In the neighboring village of Jalud, a similar two-week siege in July forced two Palestinian families off their land before settlers took over the property — a chilling preview of what residents in Qusra fear could happen to them. Violence and land seizures in the occupied West Bank have intensified in recent months, with settlers emboldened by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has overseen a rapid expansion of settlement construction in the territory. More than 500,000 Israelis now live in the occupied West Bank in settlements considered illegal under international law, alongside roughly three million Palestinians.

A total of 87 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers so far this year, according to the Palestinian Authority's Health Ministry. With the Israeli military's outpost dismantlements doing little to fully dislodge settlers from the area, and the families in Qusra refusing to abandon their homes, the standoff underscores a deepening crisis — one where international condemnation has so far failed to translate into lasting change on the ground.