Israeli Army Evacuates Palestinian Families, Not Settlers, After Days-Long Siege in Qusra

Since settlers first surrounded three Palestinian homes in the West Bank village of Qusra on Sunday, August 9, the siege has stretched into its fifth day, and Thursday's Israeli military response ended with Palestinian families, not settlers, being ordered out of their houses.

The homes belong to the Abu Ridi and Hassan families. Settlers pitched a tent roughly six meters away, cut water and electricity lines, and blocked roads into the area, according to residents quoted by Democracy Now and CNN. Ruqaya Reeda, one of the besieged residents, told Democracy Now that settlers attacked repair crews sent to fix the cut utility lines, forcing residents to fix them again only to have them cut a second time.

The situation grew acute Monday when a two-year-old girl in the Hassan household developed vomiting and a high fever, according to the Guardian. Settlers initially blocked an ambulance from reaching the house. The child and her mother were not evacuated until Tuesday.

The military's response: evict the Palestinians

Israeli forces moved onto the hilltop Wednesday and dismantled the settlers' tent, according to CNN, but were driven back after dozens more settlers arrived, blocked roads with boulders, and threw rocks. Soldiers used sound grenades and pepper spray before withdrawing.

Thursday morning, the IDF deployed an infantry battalion and announced it had "dismantled two illegal outposts" and detained one Israeli near Qusra and the neighboring Jalud area, per the BBC. But the first concrete action affecting residents was an order for roughly a dozen Palestinian households, including the besieged families, to leave their own homes. Qusra's mayor, Abdel Azim Wadi, told the BBC the village had been declared a closed military zone and that soldiers were using vacated Palestinian houses as barracks.

Qaher Odeh, one of those ordered out, told the BBC that more than 20 soldiers broke down his door Thursday morning while he was asleep. Families were kept out for roughly 10 hours. Some returned to find food thrown from their refrigerators and $1,500 in cash missing, according to one resident's account to the BBC. The IDF did not address that specific allegation when asked.

CNN's crew was itself stopped from reaching the hilltop by Israeli soldiers who cited the closed military zone, an order CNN reported has "so far only been enforced against Palestinians, Israeli human rights activists and journalists," not the settlers who remain in the area.

A U.S. ambassador calls settlers "terrorists"

The situation has drawn an unusually blunt American response. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee labeled the settlers "Israeli terrorists" and demanded they be removed, according to abc.net.au. Qusra is home to a number of Palestinian-American citizens, including the Ridi family. Loui Ridi, who now lives in Ohio, told CNN he watched the siege unfold on his home security cameras and began contacting Israeli authorities directly.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told the BBC the settlers' conduct was "deplorable" and "unacceptable" and pledged an investigation and arrests. As of Thursday, no arrests connected to the siege itself had been announced. IDF chief of general staff Eyal Zamir met senior commanders Wednesday evening and ordered an infantry reservist battalion back from leave to reinforce troops in the sector, according to the Guardian.

A regional commander, Gen. Avi Bluth, visited the families Wednesday and promised to lift the siege, which resident Yousef Hassan confirmed to the Guardian, calling it the first time he felt "seriousness" from the army. But he added the promise had "not yet produced tangible results." After soldiers removed the settlers' tent and briefly clashed with them, they withdrew, leaving settlers still camped in front of the house.

It is documented through multiple on-the-ground accounts and IDF statements themselves that settlers cut utilities to Palestinian homes, blocked an ambulance, and that soldiers then evicted Palestinian residents rather than the settlers who instigated the standoff. The Guardian notes the standoff unfolded roughly where 28-year-old Amir Moatasem Odeh was killed by a settler in March, a case in which no one has been arrested.

What remains unclear is why enforcement fell on the besieged families rather than the settlers who erected the outpost, and whether the "investigation" Mencer promised will produce any arrests. All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law, a standing legal position that does not by itself establish criminal liability for any individual settler's conduct pending Israel's own investigation.

The IDF said Thursday that "the soldiers were instructed that the Qusra residents will remain in their homes" and would not operate inside the home nearest the dismantled tent. Residents told the BBC and ABC that, in practice, evictions and searches continued regardless. Whether Zamir's reinforcement deployment changes that on the ground will become clear in the coming days.