In a bid to restore order, the Israeli military announced overnight that it would be deploying additional troops, following an unsuccessful attempt to dismantle a blockade imposed by Israeli settlers on Palestinian households in the occupied West Bank.
The blockade commenced on Sunday when settlers set up an improvised tent adjacent to homes in Qusra, a Palestinian village located to the south of Nablus. This obstruction has prevented vital food and medical supplies from being delivered to the community.
Witnesses reported clashes between Israeli soldiers and settlers as the military attempted to dismantle the encampment that was established right in front of Palestinian residences.
This confrontation, notably rare between settlers and the military, arises amid a significant uptick in land takeovers and assaults by settlers on Palestinian individuals.
According to international law, all Israeli settlements and outposts across the occupied West Bank are deemed illegal.
“We have received no food and no medicine,” Qusai Abu Rida, a Palestinian trapped inside one of the houses, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) by telephone, adding that he had only managed to secure electricity thanks to solar panels.
The Israeli military condemned the settlers’ actions and declared the area a “closed military zone”, removing their tent on Wednesday morning (local time).
By mid-afternoon, an AFP photographer at the scene said the military had left and the tent had been removed, but the settlers were still there.
Abu Rida said the settlers had chairs and blankets.
“The army has withdrawn, and so far we are still besieged, with the settlers at our doorstep,” he said.
‘Reprehensible and unacceptable’ settler actions
Later on Wednesday, the military announced it would send an additional infantry battalion and that more soldiers would be on standby.
The chief of the general staff “directed that efforts to strengthen order and operational control in the area continue, as well as efforts to prevent further serious incidents”, a military statement said.
A day earlier, the Israeli military said it had received reports of settlers entering and taking control of Palestinian homes and land in the area.
“This is illegal, reprehensible and unacceptable activity that harms the residents of the areas and disrupts their daily lives,” it said.
It also said that disciplinary action would be taken against security personnel who had been filmed at the site days earlier.
Violence by Israeli settlers towards Palestinians in the West Bank has persisted for years, often with little or no legal consequence, but recent months have seen a surge in attacks.
Last Sunday, Israel’s military closed the West Bank village of Taybeh to non-residents to prevent growing attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers. Taybeh is one of the only Christian villages remaining in the West Bank.
More than 500,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory among some three million Palestinians.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,097 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
Israeli figures show at least 48 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations during the same period.
In late July, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would allow the establishment of more settlements in the West Bank.