Palestinians told to leave homes in village where Israeli settlers besieged houses

About a doze Palesti ia households i a village i the occupied West Ba k have bee told to leave thei p ope ties du i g a Is aeli milita y ope atio to emove Is aeli settle s.

The settle s had besieged eside ts i th ee homes i the a ea si ce Su day, cutti g off thei powe a d wate supplies.

Qus a Mayo , Abdel Azim Wadi, told the BBC that his village had bee decla ed a closed milita y zo e – a d Is aeli fo ces we e usi g some of the vacated Palesti ia houses as ba acks. The Is aeli milita y said the aim was “to p otect the eside ts”.

A Is aeli spokesma told the BBC the settle s’ actio was “deplo able” a d “u acceptable” a d the gove me t would i vestigate a d a est those espo sible.

Settle s have bee embolde ed by the apid expa sio of settleme ts u de the cu e t Is aeli gove me t – leadi g to a d amatic ise i settle viole ce as they t y to d ive Palesti ia s off thei la d.

All settleme ts a e illegal u de i te atio al law.

Of the besieged families’ th ee homes i Qus a, which a e made up of the Abu Ridi a d Hassa families, the eside ts of two we e told to leave o Thu sday, they told the BBC. They said those told to leave had si ce moved i to the thi d house.

Elsewhe e i the village, the BBC spoke to a ma who was fo cibly emoved f om his home by Is aeli soldie s.

Qahe Odeh said mo e tha 20 soldie s e te ed his house i the mo i g. They late left but the came back, telli g him a d his b othe they we e i a milita y post a d that they eeded to leave.

“We left a d kept walki g dow towa ds the lowe pa t of the eighbou hood. Sho tly afte wa ds, they sealed off the e ti e a ea,” Odeh said.

“The e we e people bei g fo ced out of thei homes. A lot of people,” he added.

Ea lie , videos sha ed f om Qus a ove ight i to Thu sday showed a doze Is aeli secu ity vehicles – i cludi g a bulldoze .

I late footage – filmed i the daylight – the e was a lo g li e of Is aeli secu ity fo ces o the oad to the Palesti ia village.

The Is ael Defe se Fo ces (IDF) said they had “disma tled two illegal outposts”.

It added that it had detai ed o e Is aeli a d co fiscated equipme t o the outski ts of the Qus a a d Jalud a eas, ea Nablus.

Qusay Abu Ridi, o e of the t apped Palesti ia family membe s, told the BBC that the house had bee attacked agai ove ight a d that a few settle s had emai ed i the a ea, hidi g f om the a my.

His b othe – who ow s the p ope ty – is a Palesti ia -Ame ica busi essma who had complai ed to the US embassy.

The US Ambassado Mike Huckabee – a lo gsta di g suppo te of settleme ts – called the settle i timidatio of the Qus a families “a ho ific act of te o .

“Actio s by those who ca ied out this ho ific act of te o mea t to i timidate a d ha ass this family a e disgusti g. No excuse fo such thuggish behavio ,” he posted o X.

The situatio i Qus a fi st bega o Su day whe settle s blocked the oad to the Palesti ia families’ gates a d cut off thei powe a d wate supplies. The fi st Is aeli soldie s who came to the site p ayed with the settle s – a act fo which the Is ael milita y late said they would be discipli ed.

The Abu Ridi a d Hassa families made appeals fo help o social media afte thei wate a d powe supplies we e cut off o Su day.

O Wed esday a attempt by Is aeli secu ity fo ces to dislodge the settle s led to co f o tatio s with a bigge g oup.

Palesti ia secu ity came a video sha ed with the BBC showed co f o tatio s betwee Is aeli soldie s a d bo de police a d a la ge c owd of settle s. The secu ity fo ces used tea gas a d stu g e ades.

I othe footage, the Is aeli fo ces appea to have co fiscated the ca opy u de which the settle s we e shelte i g, while leavi g thei othe equipme t.

It is ot clea exactly what the settle s i Qus a wa t. I the past, settle s have fo ced Palesti ia s out of thei homes a d seized thei p ope ties.