The recent encirclement of Palestinian residences by militant Israeli settlers in Qusra village, located in the West Bank under Israeli occupation, is not an isolated event. However, the U.S. citizenship of one of the Palestinian homeowners has garnered more media attention compared to the frequent aggressive actions by hardline Jewish settlers aimed at displacing Palestinians from their land.
Loui Ridi, a businessman based in Ohio, returned to Qusra on August 17 to protect his residence, where his brother and nephew also reside, as settlers surrounded his home and two neighboring houses. In a video call with CBC news from Qusra, Ridi expressed his brother’s plea for food and emphasized that leaving the house would mean surrendering it to the settlers.
Highlighting previous settler aggressions in the nearby village of Jalud, Ridi emphasized the settlers’ tactics of besieging families to force them out of their homes. The expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, considered illegal by international law, has significantly increased under the current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration and his ultranationalist coalition partners.
Upon his return to Qusra, Ridi raised an American flag on his building and sought assistance from the U.S. Embassy. The village of Qusra, located approximately 16 kilometers south of Nablus, is surrounded by settlement blocs and outposts inhabited by radical settlers.
Incidents of settler attacks causing casualties or property damage have escalated this year, with an average of about six incidents daily, as reported by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – marking a record high. The U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, condemned the violence in Qusra, labeling those responsible as “Israeli terrorists.”
Critics argue that the settler violence is enabled by an institutional annexation of the West Bank, facilitated by the Israeli military’s collaboration with settlers. Scenes of Israeli soldiers purportedly engaging in aggressive actions in Qusra have further blurred the distinction between soldiers and settlers, raising concerns among Palestinians.
Despite efforts to restore order by deploying Israeli border police and units from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Qusra, the settlers remain present, fueling suspicions among Palestinians that the IDF supports Israel’s settlement activities. The ongoing violence and targeting of Palestinian communities on the outskirts are seen as part of a strategy to confine Palestinians to smaller areas and facilitate the expansion of settlements across the West Bank.
Moreover, global condemnation was voiced by countries like Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom regarding Israel’s plan to publish construction tenders for a new settlement, E1, near East Jerusalem, which could undermine the potential for a two-state solution by disrupting the territorial integrity of the Palestinian Territories.