Ramallah/Tel Aviv. Even on the tenth day of the siege of Palestinian houses in the town of Kusra in the West Bank by radical Israeli settlers, the affected family continues to hold out in their home. Israel's army and police have not yet ended the blockade, as village leader Abdul Asim al-Wadi confirmed to the German Press Agency.
The family is under “enormous pressure,” said one of the brothers, Ahed Abu Rida, who is in telephone contact with his relatives trapped in Kusra. They could hardly sleep because they were constantly afraid that settlers or soldiers would break into the house. “They cannot leave the house because they are afraid that if they do, the settlers will occupy it,” he said. They also don't know how long the situation will last. “The uncertainty and insecurity they live in is grueling.”
The co-owner of one of the besieged houses, who is also a US citizen, returned from the US on Monday to defend the building. Video footage from Monday evening showed Luai Abu Rida hoisting a US flag on the roof.
The village leader said that the supply of water and electricity to the houses that had been cut off by the settlers had been restored. However, there is concern that food and medicine could run out. On Sunday, a team from the UN children's fund Unicef brought the family relief goods as well as learning and play materials for the children.
Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased significantly in recent years. The Israeli military is repeatedly accused of not taking decisive action against such attacks.
Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the army on Friday to develop a plan to transfer powers to enforce the law in civil matters - with regard to Israeli settlers - to the police. “The Israeli army’s mission is to combat Palestinian terror and focus on protecting borders and settlements from threats,” Katz said.
The right-wing extremist police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has also been an ardent supporter of the settler movement for years. Critics therefore believe it is extremely unlikely that the police will take more decisive action against violent settlers than the army - quite the opposite.
Ben-Gvir welcomed Katz's move on Monday and announced that he would implement it. The transfer of authority from the army to the police is “a significant step towards Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” the Israeli name for the West Bank.
Critics say the Kusra example illustrates a broader pattern: settlers blockade Palestinian homes to force them to move out so they can take over the buildings themselves. They cut off electricity and water, and security forces hardly take any action against it. If the Palestinians resist, they risk their lives.
Israeli expert Tammy Caner from the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) speaks of a “profound structural change in Israel’s control and administration” in the occupied West Bank. It is a targeted policy that aims to annex the entire area as a final step.
In an analysis, Caner, together with Udi Dekel, describes a process that aims to weaken the Palestinian Authority, expand Israeli settlements and strengthen Israeli control over land and administration. These measures are described as part of a broader process through which Israel is increasingly exercising de facto civilian sovereignty in the West Bank without formally annexing the area.
The right-wing religious government of Benjamin Netanyahu is de facto implementing the plans of the right-wing extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Smotrich wants to achieve Israeli sovereignty throughout the West Bank and thus bury the Palestinians' aspirations for state independence. All of this is justified by security considerations.
Dekel warns of the security consequences of this policy. The more the settlement project is expanded, the more soldiers will have to be deployed to protect it and will therefore not be available on other fronts. Possible fatal effects had already become apparent during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, when around eight times more security forces were deployed in the West Bank than on the border with the Gaza Strip.
