QUSRA, West Bank: Israeli settlers attacked municipal crews attempting to restore water and electricity to three besieged Palestinian homes in the West Bank village of Qusra on Saturday, while Israeli forces detained four workers, according to the village’s mayor, Abdul Azim Wadi.
The crews were dispatched to Ras Al-Ain Mountain after coordination with the Palestinian Civil Liaison, Wadi said, as 15 Palestinians remain cut off from water, electricity and other essential supplies, having been blockaded by settlers in a siege that is now entering its second week.
“We coordinated with the Palestinian Civil Liaison to send two teams to the site to restore water and electricity. Unfortunately, a group of settlers attacked the water maintenance crew, forcing them to flee. One of the workers lost his phone as they escaped,” Wadi told Arab News, adding that Israeli forces subsequently intervened and detained four electricity workers and blocked their vehicle.
This latest incident came despite Israeli military operations that dismantled a settler tent erected near the homes. Wadi said 18 settlers remained in the area on Saturday and continued to surround the properties.
Israeli forces also remained deployed at the site. Settlers have repeatedly returned to the site despite Israeli military operations to remove them, Wadi said.
The siege began on Sunday when settlers established a tent in the yards of three Palestinian homes on Ras Al-Ain, a hilltop overlooking Qusra southeast of Nablus. After several attempts to remove the settlers, the Israeli military sent dozens of troops on Thursday who evacuated eight homes in the village, including one of the three besieged homes, before turning the latter, owned by Yousef Hassan, into a military post, according to the mayor.
Settlers reportedly reinstalled the tent on Friday, but it was removed from the site later in the day, according to the UN and local residents.
Palestinian, Israeli and international activists have attempted to deliver food and other supplies to the families, but were blocked from reaching the homes by Israeli forces, according to the mayor.
The UN said on Friday that humanitarian and municipal workers had attempted to deliver food, water, infant formula, medicines, and hygiene supplies to the three homes “without success.”
“Efforts to protect Palestinians have been ineffective,” said Daniela Gross, UN associate spokesperson.
The UN human rights office warned that “time is running out” before the families are forcibly displaced.
Wadi described the siege as part of a “clear and systematic pattern” targeting Qusra amid a wider surge in settler violence across the occupied West Bank since the Oct. 7, 2023 war on Gaza began.
Wadi said Saturday’s attack was just the latest in months of attempts to isolate the families on Ras Al-Ain.
“Settlers cut off the water and electricity more than six or seven times since December. We have restored them each time, but the settlers have returned and cut them again,” he told Arab News.
Local sources told the Palestinian news agency WAFA on Saturday that settlers had been attempting to seize one of the homes for about four months, prompting members of the family to maintain a round-the-clock presence at the property on a rotating basis.
The situation in Qusra has attracted widespread condemnation from senior Israeli figures, the US and France. However, Wadi said such statements have failed to end the siege.
“What matters today is that the families are still besieged and we cannot reach them. They are entitled to water and electricity because they are part of our village,” he told Arab News. “As Palestinians, we deserve to live in peace and security. It is part of our basic rights.”
The UN said the difficulties reaching the Qusra families reflected broader restrictions on humanitarian operations across the West Bank, where aid teams face delays and access constraints caused by more than 900 checkpoints, gates, roadblocks and other physical obstacles.
Gross said conditions were particularly severe in the northern West Bank.
Settlement expansion has soared under Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, as has violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers, particularly since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas from Gaza.
Settlers routinely enter Palestinian towns, clashing with villagers, burning homes, mosques and cars, and stealing livestock.
Palestinians and human rights group have accused the Israeli military of emboldening settlers to act with impunity as they try to drive Palestinians from their lands and take over their homes.
Palestinian officials have reported 1,476 attacks by Israeli settlers in 2026. A total of 87 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the West Bank this year, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry.
The Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission on Saturday accused Israeli forces of abetting settler attacks.
“The figures reflect coordination between military (forces) and settler attacks, with the Israeli army providing protection and support that enables the attacks to continue and their outcomes to become established realities on the ground,” it said.
