Palestinian Residents Ordered to Leave West Bank Village of Qusra

Palestinian residents of the West Bank village of Qusra have been ordered to leave their homes after a days-long siege and repeated attacks by Israeli settlers, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declaring the area a closed military zone in what it claims is a move to protect civilians.

In an interview with RT’s Charlotte Dubenskij, Han Abdul Karim Hassan, a besieged Palestinian resident of Qusra, said the IDF declared the village a military zone after days of enabling terror by the settlers.

“The army came and entered the area while I was standing here, accompanied by a whole procession of settlers, so I asked them, ‘Aren’t you here because of the settlers?’” Hassan said. “Then they told us, evacuate the house now.”

“Then the girl called me, and I told her not to come out; in other words, I told her, ‘Don’t come out because you’ll be killed,’” he added.

Hassan stressed that Jewish settlers established the outpost in January, launching daily attacks and intimidation. He said they tore down the gates of the farm and the doors of the house, blocked roads, and cut off electricity, water, and food supplies.

“That situation has been going on for two weeks, and they still haven’t resolved it,” he added. “My children are exhausted, they’re being confined.”

The West Bank, occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War, is home to around 3 million Palestinians and some 500,000 Israelis living in dozens of settlements, which are considered illegal under international law. Israel, however, maintains that the territory is disputed and has deep historical and biblical ties to the Jewish people.

Earlier this year, Israel allocated 1.3 billion shekels ($431 million) for 34 new West Bank settlements, as its expansionist policies face criticism from the UN, Arab countries, and EU members. Settler violence against Palestinians has also surged since Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the Gaza war.