Settler siege of Palestinian homes in the West Bank a 'horrific act of terror,' US ambassador says

JERUSALEM (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to Israel on Thursday condemned a siege by Israeli settlers of a Palestinian American family’s home in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, calling it a “horrific act of terror.”

Mike Huckabee’s remarks on X represented an unusually sharp rebuke from the Trump administration of the latest episode in a surge of settler violencein the region.

Starting Sunday, settlers gathered around three houses in the village of Qusra, including one belonging to Palestinian American Loui Ridi, according to local officials, Ridi and Ridi’s brother. At times numbering dozens, the settlers threw stones, attempted to bring down a stone wall nearby, and prevented the occupants from leaving as their food and water dwindled.

On Thursday morning, Ridi’s brother, Qusai Abu Rida, who had holed up in the house with his own teenage son to defend it, said they were moved by Israel’s military to another home but still cannot leave the area.

The military declined to confirm whether it moved the pair and other residents. But Israeli troops have intervened in recent days to try to restore order. The military said Thursday that its troops dismantled “two illegal outposts” on the outskirts of Qusra and a nearby village, and detained one Israeli. It added that additional soldiers had gone to the area, which is about 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the Palestinian city of Nablus, to “carry out defensive missions and patrols.”

Qusra Mayor Abdel Azim Wadi said that Israeli forces evacuated seven homes in total to take positions in the village. The settlers, though removed from their outposts, remain in other parts of the village, he added.

Journalists on the outskirts of Qusra said roads into the village were closed on Thursday afternoon. Israeli police did not immediately respond to questions about whether any detained Israelis had been arrested.

Palestinians and the Israeli opposition accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line government of turning a blind eye to attacks by settlers against Palestinians as clashes have surged in the last few years. 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.

“Actions by those who carried out this horrific act of terror meant to intimidate and harass this family are disgusting,” Huckabee said in his post, noting that the embassy has been coordinating with the Israeli military and police.

Settlers began their siege of the homes Sunday, blocking the doors and preventing inhabitants from leaving, Abu Rida said. Israel’s military condemned the siege as “illegal, reprehensible, and unacceptable” on Tuesday and declared the area a closed military zone. But by Wednesday, dozens of settlers had returned and begun to block the road with rocks.

Speaking to The Associated Press by phone on Wednesday from Ohio, where he lives, Ridi, said his 48-year-old brother and nephew had not had access to new food or water supplies for several days.

Ridi said that settlers have been targeting his home for months before the situation escalated in recent days, saying they had cut off the water and electricity to his house and thrown stones, causing damage to the property.

“We are prisoners in our own house, hostages in our own house,” he said.

Qusra is in one of the most violent pockets of the northern West Bank, surrounded by settlements.

Last month, a mosque in Qusra was set on fire in another apparent settler attack. That followed the killing of an Israeli settler, triggering violence that left two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinian villagers dead.

Settlers have been building more outposts in an effort condemned by many in the international community as aimed at dismantling any remaining hopes of establishing a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinians seek the West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 war, as part of a future state. Many settlers and their supporters say the entire area should belong to Israel for historical, religious and security reasons.

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This story has been updated to correct the first name of the homeowner to Loui.

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Associated Press writers Sam Mednick and Giovanna Dell’Orto contributed from Jerusalem. Koral Saeed contributed reporting from Herzliya, Israel.

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