Key facts
- The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called for international intervention to protect residents of al-Mughayyir and Qusra villages from escalating Israeli settler violence and blockades.
- The UN human rights office condemned the settler actions in Qusra as criminal and inhumane, warning of forced displacement.
- Settler violence in the West Bank has reached a record high this year, with an average of 6.6 incidents per day resulting in casualties or property damage.
- Israeli officials and the UN have accused Israel of supporting or acquiescing to settler actions, which are described by rights groups as state-sanctioned ethnic cleansing.
- Recent incidents include a settler siege of three families in Qusra for five nights, demolition notices for homes in other West Bank areas, and an attack on journalists.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called for international intervention to protect residents of al-Mughayyir, a village northeast of Ramallah, from escalating Israeli settler violence and a nearly three-week blockade. Officials described the siege as a systematic campaign to eradicate the Palestinian presence and a deliberate policy of "killing, terrorism, and forced displacement."
Separately, the UN human rights office and the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned a days-long Israeli settler siege of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra. The UN stated that these "criminal actions by the settlers, supported or acquiesced to by Israel, the Occupying Power, are making life unbearable for these Palestinian families and are clearly aimed at forcing them to leave their homes and their land." Three families, comprising 15 people, have been confined to their homes with their water and power cut off since Sunday.
US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee referred to the settlers’ actions as acts of "terror." Al Jazeera reported that Israeli soldiers initially tried to move the trapped families out of their homes while settlers remained camped outside, and that most Palestinians believe the Israeli army is staging its response for the cameras. The mayor of Qusra stated the Israeli army has been protecting and helping the settlers.
Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is described as spiraling out of control, with rights groups characterizing it as state-sanctioned ethnic cleansing. The United Nations has warned that this year has seen the highest rate of settler violence on record, with an average of 6.6 settler-related incidents per day resulting in casualties or property damage. Recent incidents include a far-right Israeli lawmaker smashing a Palestinian monument and settlers throwing stones at journalists and activists, injuring five people. Israeli forces also issued demolition notices for homes in other West Bank areas.