© UNICEF/A. Badarne The streets of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli troops have extended a blockade order until August 20. Occupied West Bank: settler siege of Palestinian homes is a new round of escalation Peace and Security
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) called on Israeli authorities on Thursday to help Palestinian families in the West Bank who have been prevented from leaving their homes by settlers for days.
The occupied territory is a key element of a future Palestinian state, OHCHR recalled, and forced settlement expansion is becoming a growing obstacle to the negotiation process.
The United States is reportedly trying to help end the siege that began on Sunday, with the US ambassador to Israel calling for a rein in what he called “Israeli terrorists.”
Three Palestinian families – about 15 people, including at least two children – remain trapped “in a state of terror” in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus. The OHCHR statement said the settlers may have cut off their electricity and water.
“The criminal acts of the settlers, supported or tolerated by Israel as the occupying power, are making life miserable for these Palestinian families and are clearly aimed at forcing them to leave their homes and land,” the statement said. “Time is running out for these three families; they will soon be forcibly displaced.”
Nowhere to run
After the initial statement was released, OHCHR head of office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ajit Sangay, clarified in an interview with UN News Service that the families had been displaced from three houses to one. He is surrounded by Israeli settlers.
“The IDF is either unable or unwilling to protect Palestinian communities, which it is obligated to do under the Geneva Conventions. Or, worse, it is acting in collusion with the settlers to displace the Palestinians and occupy their land,” Sangay said.
He noted that about 20 Palestinian families from Qusra were previously evacuated by the Israeli military “for security reasons,” and stressed the need for international support to resolve the situation: “We welcome statements, we welcome dialogue… But it is simply not enough. We have already passed the boiling point. We are seeing unprecedented levels of settler violence and call on states to use their influence in every way possible.”
© Adobe Stock/Voddol Construction site of an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.
The OHCHR statement said residents of Qusra have been the target of increasing attacks since November 2025, when a new settlement outpost was established nearby. Previous requests by Palestinian families to the Israeli military for intervention have failed.
“Instead, Israeli security forces appear to have blocked access for medics, activists and journalists to these families,” OHCHR said, adding that although soldiers dismantled settlers’ tents on Wednesday, they continued to surround the houses Palestinians.
The entire West Bank is engulfed in escalation
Sangai noted that the dramatic events in Qusra are unfolding in parallel with other extremely disturbing incidents caused by the activities of settlers in the occupied West Bank. Among them is the decision by Israeli commanders to block entry into the city of Taibe to anyone who does not live there, ostensibly to protect local residents from settler attacks. shore.
“In parallel, settlement expansion continues, including the creation of several new outposts,” UNRWA noted.