Israeli Troops Occupy Palestinian Homes in Qusra, Then Deny Displacing Anyone

Israeli soldiers forced two Palestinian families out of their homes in the West Bank village of Qusra on Thursday, one day after Maj Gen Avi Bluth, the officer commanding all Israeli troops in the occupied territory, personally promised residents he would end a settler siege against them.

Soldiers also took over eight additional homes that morning, telling the village's mayor, Abdul Azim Wadi, the buildings were needed for a multi-day military operation targeting the settlers. Six were handed back by afternoon. Two remained occupied. Settlers, meanwhile, kept moving freely through the village.

The siege began Sunday, when settlers and soldiers erected a tent blocking the entrance to three homes, cut water and electricity, and blocked an ambulance trying to reach a sick toddler, according to Qusai Ridi, one of the besieged residents.

A commander's promise, then more occupation

By Wednesday, international attention on Qusra had grown enough that Bluth visited in person and committed to evacuating the settlers. His troops removed the tent but left the settlers' bedding and equipment in place, then retreated after a failed attempt to clear the group using riot-control tactics. The siege stretched into a fifth day, its footprint widening rather than shrinking after the general's visit.

Ridi told the Guardian that when soldiers arrived Thursday morning, they cited a three-day operation and ordered residents out. "We refused to leave," he said. "The army then moved us all into one house." He was allowed back that afternoon and found a security camera system damaged and equipment missing. His neighbor's home remained occupied.

Families who got their homes back Thursday reported a Qur'an with torn-out pages and destroyed decorations, according to their accounts to the Guardian. Occupation Watch has not independently verified the extent of the damage.

Settlers continued patrolling near the spot where 28-year-old Amir Moatasem Odeh was killed in March, allegedly by a settler who also stabbed his father. No arrests have been made.

Olmert: "crimes against humanity"

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert described the siege as "a concerted and meticulous attempt at ethnic cleansing," saying it left him "disgusted and ashamed," and accused the Israeli government of actively supporting what he called crimes against humanity while the IDF and police stood by.

U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, a longtime backer of Israel's settlement enterprise, reportedly called the siege "a horrific act of terror" carried out by "Israeli terrorists," according to the Guardian.

An Israeli military spokesperson said soldiers had been ordered not to displace Qusra residents or operate inside the besieged homes, but declined to explain why those orders were apparently ignored on the ground.

A similar pattern of settler-soldier coordination reportedly forced a family from their home in the neighboring village of Jalud in July; footage described by the Guardian shows soldiers and settlers playing football together on that home's terrace this week.

Israeli commentator Avi Ashkenazi, writing in Ma'ariv, said the episode exposed "the impotence of the IDF, the police, the GSS and other security organizations in the face of a group of bullies," arguing officials negotiated with settlers rather than arresting them.

According to B'Tselem, Israel has forcibly displaced 64 Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank over the past three years, with more than 4,800 people driven from their homes. The Guardian also cites a figure of more than 1,100 Palestinians killed by Israeli civilians and soldiers in the West Bank since 2020, with only one indictment.