US Ambassador on Kusra Siege: Israeli Terrorists

Three Palestinian families in the village of Kusra, south of Nablus, have not been able to leave their homes for four days. Israeli settlers blocked every access route with stones and heavy obstacles on Sunday, August 9, then cut off the water and power supply, and the Israeli military, which holds security jurisdiction over that part of the occupied West Bank, still had not removed them by Thursday.

On Thursday morning, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a man who has spent years publicly defending the settlement movement and repeating that Judea and Samaria are an inseparable part of the Israeli state, spoke out. He called the people holding the families in Kusra under siege Israeli terrorists, and he denied claims that the US embassy in Jerusalem has no connection to what is happening on the ground.

“Israeli army and police came at our request to remove the Israeli terrorists doing this,” Huckabee said. “The actions of those who carried out this horrific terrorist act, designed to intimidate and harass this family, are repugnant. There is no excuse for such thuggish behavior.”

Word choice matters as much as the request itself. In American diplomatic usage, the word terrorism almost never describes Israeli citizens, yet here it came from an ambassador who, in 2025, after an arson attack on the Palestinian town of Tayba, promised to work for all American citizens in Israel. Huckabee added that the White House did not need to intervene, because Washington had already been informed of the situation.

What Is Actually Happening in Kusra

Kusra lies in Area B of the occupied West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority handles civil affairs while Israel retains security control. Among those trapped inside the besieged houses are Qusai Abu Rida and his eighteen year old son, along with the family of Yusuf Hasan. With the utility lines cut, residents are relying on a makeshift solar system and what remains of well water collected over the winter.

Aisha Abu Rida, one of the residents under siege, described the situation the families have faced since Sunday to Al Jazeera.

“We are surrounded by settlers, but we are steadfast, God willing. We will not leave our home, whatever happens.”

This is not simply a matter of stubbornness. If a family leaves, the house and land are left empty, and the neighboring village of Jalud shows what follows: a siege there lasted two weeks in July, two Palestinian families abandoned their property, and settlers then took it over.

Army Sends a Battalion Against Its Own Settlers

On Wednesday, additional Israeli forces entered the village, tore down a tent that settlers had pitched next to the houses, and clashed with a group of fifty to sixty people before withdrawing without carrying out an evacuation. The commander of Central Command, Major General Avi Bluth, also came to the site. That evening the military announced that the chief of staff had ordered the sector reinforced with another regular infantry battalion, along with additional forces on standby.

Earlier that week, the Israeli military had already described the incidents in Kusra and Jalud as unlawful and unacceptable conduct by Israeli civilians, and it barred access to anyone who was not a resident. It also announced disciplinary proceedings against soldiers who were filmed on Sunday praying alongside the settlers instead of removing them from the scene.

Besieged Family’s Brother Watches From Ohio

Loui Ridi (46), a Palestinian American born in Kusra, is following the siege from Toledo, Ohio, through security cameras he installed on the house he has spent years building in the village, a house he has put roughly a million dollars into. From the United States, he watches settlers approach the building where his brother and nephew are trapped.

“Instead of helping, the soldiers are hugging the settlers. Instead of protecting my brother, the soldiers are becoming part of the danger.”

Ridi emailed the US embassy in Jerusalem asking for help. He was told the embassy had no jurisdiction there and should contact Israeli or Palestinian authorities, the same position Huckabee denied on Thursday. What worries him most right now is not the legal status of the house.

“He just told me: I have enough supplies for two or three more days. And if nobody manages to get food to us, I don’t know what else I can do.”

Is Kusra an Isolated Case?

United Nations data shows it is not. According to those figures, Israeli forces and settlers have killed 76 Palestinians in the occupied territory this year, 18 of them children, while roughly 3,800 people have been displaced by settler violence, demolitions and evictions. Ramiz Alakbarov, deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process at the UN, said on Tuesday that more than 1,430 settler attacks involving injuries or property damage have been documented during 2026 across roughly 260 Palestinian communities, and that Israeli authorities have approved or advanced roughly 12,360 housing units in settlements this year.

According to the Israeli organization Peace Now, the West Bank has 146 unauthorized settlements and another 390 smaller outposts, home to more than 500,000 Israelis living alongside roughly three million Palestinians.

Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported that Israeli military officials told the mayor of Kusra the operation in the village would continue until Sunday morning. Until then, the three families remain behind the stones piled at their doors.