In Qusra, where three Palestinian families, including one with a U.S. citizen, have been trapped in their homes for four days, the Israeli army seized 16 Palestinian homes and converted them into military positions.
Abdul Azim al-Wadi, head of the Qusra Village Council, said a military operation was continuing in the town and its surrounding area south of Nablus. Al-Wadi said the council had been informed that the operation would continue until Sunday morning.
Military deployment around Qusra
According to al-Wadi, a large number of Israeli soldiers entered Qusra and deployed in the town and surrounding area, supported by infantry units, military vehicles and bulldozers.
The Israeli army told the village council that it aimed to dismantle an illegal outpost established by settlers during rising tensions in the area.
Soldiers were seen positioned inside some homes. While some families moved in with relatives, three families, including one with a U.S. citizen, were unable to leave their homes.
Roads and basic services cut off
The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said that, since Sunday, tents and temporary structures had been erected among Palestinian-owned homes in the Ras al-Ayn area outside Qusra.
The commission said roads leading to the area had been blocked with rocks and that three homes had been surrounded. It warned that the attacks could turn into a prolonged siege aimed at isolating families and forcing them out of their homes.
Food, water and medicine were prevented from reaching the homes, while water and electricity lines were cut. A raid on Qusra the same day also imposed a curfew and ordered businesses to close.
Settlement attempts in Ras al-Ayn
The commission said there had been eight attempts to establish an outpost on Jabal Ras al-Ayn, which has strategic importance because of its elevated position and command over a wide area.
Attempts to raid and seize the homes began about four months ago, and family members took turns staying in the buildings to prevent them from being taken over.
The commission said a similar incident had occurred in the nearby village of Jalud. It said a home belonging to the family of Mahmoud al-Tubasi was seized on July 22 after being surrounded for more than three months.
Attack figures released by the commission
The commission’s latest figures showed that settlers carried out 12,506 attacks between October 2023 and June 2026. Fifty-two Palestinians were killed in those attacks, while 890 fires broke out on Palestinian-owned property and farmland.
The commission also said it recorded 2,256 attacks in the occupied West Bank in July. Israeli forces carried out 1. 458 of the attacks, while settlers carried out 798.
