By Pesha Magid
JERUSALEM, Aug 15 (Reuters) – Families on the outskirts of Qusra, the West Bank village where Palestinian homes have been under siege for nearly a week, said they have faced sometimes deadly attacks by militant settlers for months.
The United States wants Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly condemn militant settlers who have besieged Palestinians in their homes in the occupied West Bank, U.S. and Israeli officials said on Friday.
In Qusra, rights groups say militant settlers are mounting a concerted effort to seize more land, further eating into territory where Palestinians aim to establish a state.
The Israeli police and military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday. The Israeli military has said soldiers have deployed in Qusra since Thursday to protect residents and maintain security.
Marmar Ouda said he has been forced to erect metal fences around his home and bars on his windows to protect his family from attacks by militant settlers. Next to his home, the words ‘death to Arabs’ have been spray-painted in Hebrew on a wall.
Five months ago, Ouda said his nephew was shot and killed by a settler in an incident during which his brother was also injured.
Israeli media reported at the time that a settler who also served as a reservist had been arrested. Reuters could not determine whether they were charged. The Israeli police and military did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.
“I wish I had died at that moment rather than see my nephew die in front of me and my brother get shot,” said Ouda, adding that despite filing complaints with the Israeli police, he and his family had received no protection.
Ouda said that since the shooting, attacks had continued and that settlers threw stones at his house on Wednesday.
“They want to expel us, they want to kill us,” he said.
Israeli rights groups have said settlers have been granted near impunity by Israel’s far-right coalition government, which has supported significant settlement expansion in the West Bank.
“They are very provocatively going and literally taking over houses,” said Ezra Brownstein, a researcher for the Israeli rights group Rabbis for Human Rights.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a strong supporter of Jewish settlement in the West Bank, on Thursday condemned settlers besieging a Palestinian home.
FAMILIES DISPLACED
As of the end of June, more than 2,200 Palestinians had been displaced during 2026 due to settler violence and other access restrictions, according to United Nations data.
Settler violence has displaced at least two families living on the outskirts of Qusra, where a tangled blanket, a few books and some pictures on the wall are all that remain after Ibrahim Hassan and his family fled their home around a month ago.
Settlers and men in Israeli army uniform entered his house, smashed windows and beat him in front of his wife and children, said Hassan, adding he had been forced to rent a home elsewhere.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond when asked for comment on Hassan’s allegations.
(Reporting by Pesha Magid; Editing by Alexander Smith)
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