Palestinians trapped in their homes by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank town of Qusra are running out of food as the siege enters its 12th day.
Archiv: Kolonisten („Siedler“) / Kolonien / Milizen / colonists („settlers“) / colonies / militias
The Guardian view on Israel’s death penalty: capital punishment is always wrong. This new law is doubly so
(March 31, 2026)
Execution will be the default for Palestinians found guilty of lethal attacks deemed as terrorist acts in the West Bank’s military courts – which have a conviction rate of around 96%. Amnesty International says that the system routinely relies on evidence extracted through torture and abuse. The death sentence will be imposed even if prosecutors do not seek it. Convictions need no longer be unanimous. There is no possibility of pardon. Executions must take place within 90 days. Within Israeli civilian courts, the new law imposes the death penalty for deliberately killing a person with the intention of “negating the existence of the State of Israel”. Life imprisonment can only substitute in unspecified “special” circumstances.
There could hardly be a more shocking contrast with the near-total impunity of Israelis killing Palestinians in the West Bank, amid increasing – and increasingly systematic – state-backed settler violence.
‚Violence, dispossession, and destruction‘: Israeli forces and settlers launch 467 West Bank attacks in one week
Israeli forces and settlers launched at least 467 attacks on Palestinian communities across the occupied West Bank over the past week, the Palestinian prime minister’s office said.
In a post on X, the office said the violence damaged 75 Palestinian homes and other structures.
It described the attacks as part of a “relentless escalation of violence, dispossession, and destruction”.
Israel/OPT: Siege of Palestinian homes in Qusra marks relentless escalation in state-backed settler violence
(August 14, 2026)
“The three families under siege have been threatened, harassed and attacked by Israeli settlers from nearby outposts for several months. They have been confined to their homes since Sunday 9 August, are running out of food, and lack access to basic necessities, including running water. The homes targeted in these attacks are located in Area B of the West Bank, supposedly under Palestinian administrative control and Israeli military control, according to the classification of the Oslo Accords. Yet Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances trying to deliver food and water to the homes were also attacked by settlers. Despite these violent attacks, Israeli forces allowed the settlers to remain close proximity to the Palestinian families’ homes.
“For far too long, the world has ignored the immense, unfathomable suffering of Palestinians being uprooted and erased from land they have inhabited for generations. The international community must stop treating such incidents as ‘isolated’ and instead hold Israel accountable.”
Palestinian families still under siege by settlers in Qusra in the West Bank
(August 14, 2026)
Palestinian families near Qusra in the occupied West Bank say they remain trapped in their homes, six days after far-right Israeli settlers moved into the area. Despite U.S. pressure on Israel to disperse the settlers, residents say some still remain, while the IDF continues to be present — for now. NBC News‘ Matt Bradley reports.
Colonists attack Qusra municipal crew as Israeli forces detain three
NABLUS, August 15, 2026 (WAFA) — Israeli colonists on Saturday attacked a team from the Qusra municipality south of Nablus as it attempted to restore electricity to homes that have been under siege for about a week, while Israeli forces detained three members of the crew.
Local sources told WAFA that the municipal crew headed to the homes after receiving coordination to restore electricity, which colonists had cut off more than a week ago. The colonists attacked and surrounded the crew before Israeli forces intervened and detained three of its members.
Meantime, colonists continued to besiege the homes of three Palestinian families in Qusra amid a deployment of Israeli forces in the area, the sources said.
U.S. ambassador calls settler siege of Palestinian homes a ‚horrific act of terror
(August 13, 2026)
Huckabee‘s post on X was an unusually sharp rebuke from a U.S. official, even as he defended the Israeli military‘s response. Huckabee is a longtime ally of Israel‘s settler movement and in the past has expressed support for Israeli control over the occupied West Bank while condemning settler violence.
Occupied West Bank: Settler siege of Palestinians marks a new low
(August 13, 2026)
Three Palestinian families – around 15 people in total, including at least two children – have remained confined to their homes “in a state of terror” in the Ras al Ein area of Qusra village, south of Nablus, OHCHR said, alleging that the settlers had cut their power and water.
“These criminal actions by the settlers, supported or acquiesced to by Israel, the Occupying Power, are making life unbearable for these Palestinian families and are clearly aimed at forcing them to leave their homes and their land,” the UN office said. “Time is running out for these three families before they are forcibly displaced”.
Israel advances new colonial plan that further isolates Jerusalem from Bethlehem
Ir Amim said that the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem’s Planning and Building Committee approved the plan that envisages the construction of 2,300 units on approximately 20 hectares (around 200 dunums) in the Gilo colony, while expanding the colony southward toward Route 60, which links Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
It added that the plan involves the expropriation of at least 28 privately-owned dunums under the so-called Absentees‘ Property Law, which the occupation authorities utilize to seize Palestinian property.
The project is part of the broader expansion of the Givat Hamatos and Har Homa colonies. It aims to entrench the geographical separation between East Jerusalem and the southern West Bank, isolate the city of Bethlehem from Jerusalem, and impose new colonial realities on the ground.
The Human Toll Since October 7, 2023 for Gaza and the West Bank
21,797 attacked seeking aid
185,390 injured
22,250 children killed
463 starved to death
13,640 women killed
1,701 medical personnel killed
262 journalists killed
140 first responders killed
4,361 settler attacks
74,428 killed
Latest News
(news entries)
Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Villages, Torch Mosques Across West Bank
Israeli settlers carried out attacks on a number of Palestinian villages across the occupied West Bank early Sunday, setting fire to two mosques and other properties.
Sunday’s attacks were spurred by clashes that erupted in the village of Tell, in the northern West Bank, where a crowd of Israeli settlers, some armed, approached the Palestinian village Friday.
Villagers came out to confront them, and a standoff followed, with video appearing to show one of the Palestinians grabbing a settler’s weapon. Palestinian authorities said the settlers provoked the violence, while the Israeli military said both sides fired shots. Four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed.
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Four Palestinians killed, four injured by Israeli forces during attack by colonists near Nablus
Issam al-Saifi, secretary of the Fatah movement in Tell, said colonists attacked two homes in the eastern part of the town, prompting residents to confront them and force them to withdraw.
He said half an hour later, the colonists attacked the western part of the town again, leading to clashes between residents on one side and the colonists and Israeli occupation forces, who stormed the area to provide them protection to the colonists.
He added that Israeli soldiers and colonists opened fire indiscriminately at residents, killing four young Palestinians, including two brothers and their two cousins, and injuring four others. Israeli forces also declared the town a closed military zone, while colonists continued to deploy around the area.
Eight Arab and Islamic countries condemn mass Israeli colonist incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque
Foreign ministers from eight Arab and Islamic countries condemned Israel’s escalation at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, including continued incursions by Israeli colonists led by extremist Israeli ministers under the protection of Israeli police, the raising of the Israeli flag inside the compound, and other provocative actions.
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar said in a joint statement issued on Friday that these unacceptable escalatory actions constitute a blatant violation of international law, relevant United Nations resolutions, and the historic and legal status quo at the holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem.
The Human Toll Since October 7, 2023 for Gaza and the West Bank
21,797 attacked seeking aid
185,186 injured
22,238 children killed
463 starved to death
13,640 women killed
1,701 medical personnel killed
262 journalists killed
140 first responders killed
4,242 settler attacks
74,388 killed
Israeli settlers attack journalists, including CNN, on the anniversary of deadly West Bank beating
This attack on journalists comes just days after US Rep. Ro Khanna was detained by settlers near the village of Turmus Ayya in the West Bank. The village has a population of thousands of Palestinian-Americans who have come under repeated attack by settlers in the area.
Khanna visited the village to show solidarity with American citizens who have told CNN they feel forgotten by their government.
“I saw the arrogance in the eyes of those settlers, 21- and 22-year-olds with guns, laughing that they had detained us, the arrogance of those young IDF soldiers that my tax dollars are funding, having no respect for the fact that they were detaining Americans, no respect that there was an American congressperson in that bus, and laughing when our translator told them that there are Americans there and the American embassy is concerned,” Khanna told Reuters.
US Democrat Ro Khanna says Israeli settlers detained him
Ro Khanna said he was detained by Israeli settlers armed with US-made rifles during a West Bank visit this week that the Democratic lawmaker cast as an unfiltered look at the toll of Israeli occupation as he weighs a 2028 presidential run.
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Presidency warns of dangerous escalation amid colonist attacks, calls for international protection
RAMALLAH, July 4, 2026 (WAFA) – Presidential Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh affirmed that the organized terrorism carried out by colonist gangs against Palestinian villages and towns in Jenin, Nablus, Jerusalem, and Hebron in the occupied West Bank is a dangerous escalation of violence.
In a statement, Abu Rudeineh said the attacks have included assaults on homes and residents, the burning of agricultural land, the uprooting and destruction of olive trees, damage to private property, and the seizure of water sources.
He said the escalation, carried out with the direct protection and support of the Israeli army, which continues its daily policy of killing in the Gaza Strip, necessitates immediate international intervention to provide international protection for the Palestinian people before the situation spirals out of control.
UN Security Council to Hold Emergency Closed-Door Session on Palestine
According to the Palestinian letter, several recent Israeli measures in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are described as efforts by Israel to further consolidate what the letter characterizes as the annexation of Palestinian territories.
Israel forces issues demolition notices for commercial shops near Nablus
Israeli occupation authorities delivered demolition notices on Thursday to several commercial shops at the junction of the town of Bazariya, northwest of Nablus.
Local sources reported that Israeli troops raided the area and distributed notices to demolish several shops in order to construct a colonial road between the settlements of Homesh and Sanur, which is expected to pass through the lands of Burqa, Sebastia, Jaba, and Fandaqumiya.
Joint Statement from the leaders of the E4 + Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and the Netherlands on the situation in the West Bank
(May 22, 2026)
We call on the Government of Israel to …
CCTV footage has captured the moment a group of Israeli settlers spat towards the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem.
The incident occurred on the day of “Flag March,” a national holiday marking the occupation of East Jerusalem by Israeli forces following the 1967 war
Video footage circulating online shows Israeli settlers spitting towards the Shrine of the Virgin Mary, located opposite the Church of the Shepherds of the Saviour in the Bab al-Jadid area of occupied East Jerusalem.
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