Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank villages of Qusra and Jalud.
In a rare public statement, Netanyahu denounced the attacks as criminal acts of violence committed by a handful of lawbreakers. He stated that the perpetrators damage the law-abiding Jewish community, impede the Israeli military in its duties, and harm the international standing of Israel.
The prime minister made the comments after American officials pressured his government to speak out against a weeks-long siege of Palestinian homes. US and Israeli officials had previously disclosed that Washington urged Netanyahu to publicly condemn the settler blockades.
Settler Attack Triggers Clashes in Qusra
The condemnation followed a fresh assault on August 29, 2026, when dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked the village of Qusra, located south of Nablus in the northern West Bank. Tensions in the village had escalated earlier in the month when settlers began blocking access roads and surrounding residents.
Qusra resident Yousef Abdul Karim Hassan told Agence France-Presse that five villagers were working inside a house when a group of settlers approached. The settlers later returned with dozens more, surrounded the house, and threw stones at the residents trapped inside.
Witnesses speaking to Reuters confirmed that dozens of masked settlers attacked homes around Qusra in the first major raid since an earlier siege this month. Eyewitnesses said settlers encircled a home and threw stones while seven Palestinians remained trapped inside. Images recorded by news agencies showed dozens of Israeli security forces deploying throughout the village.
Security Forces Extract Settlers from Palestinian Home
The Israeli military, which has occupied the West Bank since 1967, said soldiers and border police responded to reports of violent clashes and stone-throwing. Police later stated that arriving security forces found dozens of rioters barricaded inside a Palestinian house alongside local residents.
Police reported that several Palestinians were injured during the incident, though details on their conditions were not released. Security forces extracted the settlers from the home and impounded vehicles suspected of being used by the attackers to gather evidence for an ongoing investigation.
German news agency dpa reported that settlers continued to surround homes in Qusra following the intervention. Citing village elder Abdul Azim al-Wadi, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that residents remained unable to leave their homes, leading to shortages of food and essential medicines.
International Criticism and West Bank Context
Local residents have stayed inside their homes out of fear that settlers will seize their property if left unattended. US Ambassador Mike Huckabee recently described the settlers involved in the Qusra incidents as Israeli terrorists.
While the Israeli government has characterized settler violence as the work of a fringe minority, human rights organizations dispute that claim. A United Nations investigation published in June concluded that Israeli authorities were directly involved in settler attacks that resulted in Palestinian deaths, injuries, and displacement across the West Bank. Israel's diplomatic mission in Geneva rejected the UN findings.
More than 500,000 Israelis currently live in West Bank settlements that are considered illegal under international law, alongside approximately three million Palestinians.
