The United States is pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly condemn Israeli settlers accused of besieging Palestinian families inside their homes in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra, according to U.S. and Israeli officials cited by Reuters.

The pressure comes after nearly a week of escalating tensions in Qusra, south of Nablus, where settlers established an unauthorized outpost near three Palestinian homes around Aug. 9 or 10.

Residents say the settlers blocked roads and entrances, disrupted water and electricity supplies and restricted their ability to leave their properties or receive assistance.

The United Nations said about 15 Palestinians, including two children, were trapped inside the homes without running water or electricity. Families described dwindling supplies of food and water, fear and isolation, with some relying on well water, temporary solar power and sporadic aid deliveries.

The confrontation has drawn particular attention in Washington because one of the affected properties belongs to a Palestinian American living in Ohio. His relatives, including his brother and a teenage nephew, were among those trapped inside.

A U.S. official and an Israeli official, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said White House officials have urged Netanyahu to publicly denounce the settlers' actions.

"A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration's goal to achieve peace in the region," a White House official told Reuters.

Netanyahu has not publicly commented on the Qusra confrontation. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The unusually direct U.S. pressure comes as Washington tries to balance its longstanding support for Israel with concerns about growing settler violence and instability in the West Bank.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a strong supporter of Israeli settlements, issued an unusually harsh public condemnation on Aug. 13. He described the settlers involved as "Israeli terrorists" and called their actions a "horrific act of terror meant to intimidate and harass this family."

Huckabee also called the conduct "disgusting," "criminal" and "thuggish," saying there was "no excuse" for it.

He said the U.S. Embassy had been "VERY involved" in the case and that the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli police had responded at the embassy's request to remove what he called "Israeli terrorists" and "illegal trespassers."

Huckabee later sought to distinguish the small group involved in Qusra from the broader Israeli settler movement, saying the problem was a small minority of lawbreakers and praising settler leaders who condemned the actions.

The situation remained tense Friday.

Reuters footage showed settlers near a blue tent outside one of the homes, with one man throwing stones toward the village. Israeli soldiers later arrived and removed the tent.

The Israeli military said civilians had erected the tent and that soldiers had intervened to remove it while protecting local residents. The military had earlier declared the area a closed military zone and deployed additional forces.

In some cases, Palestinian families were ordered to temporarily leave their homes while soldiers occupied the properties during operations. Reports also described clashes, including incidents in which Israeli forces used tear gas or stun grenades against settlers.

Earlier videos showed men wearing military-style clothing praying alongside settlers. The military said it was taking disciplinary action over the conduct.

Activists, including Israeli and foreign nationals, have tried to deliver food, water and other supplies to the trapped families. Access has sometimes been restricted by the military, although limited transfers of aid were allowed.

Residents said settler activity remained visible around the village and that they continued to fear being forced from their homes.

Palestinian residents and rights groups say the confrontation is not an isolated incident but part of a broader campaign intended to drive Palestinian families from their land and allow settlers to expand their control over strategically important areas.

Similar tactics have been reported in nearby communities, including Jalud. Qusra sits in an area where settlers have sought to establish and connect unauthorized outposts with larger settlements.

The West Bank was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and is home to roughly 3 million Palestinians and more than 500,000 Israeli settlers. Israel has built nearly 150 settlements across the territory, while settlers have also established hundreds of unauthorized outposts.

Many of the authorized settlements have developed into large communities with apartment buildings, shopping centers, schools, parks and industrial areas. Unauthorized outposts, meanwhile, can begin with little more than temporary structures but have often expanded over time.

Netanyahu's government, widely regarded as the most nationalist and religious in Israel's history, has strongly backed settlement expansion. Its ministers have celebrated the establishment or restoration of settlements, including the rebuilding of one that was dismantled in 2005 during Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.

Israel says Jews have a historic and biblical connection to the West Bank and argues that maintaining a presence there is important to the country's security.

Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank illegal under international law and regards their expansion as a major obstacle to a negotiated Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. Israel rejects that legal interpretation.

The roughly 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank remain under Israeli military rule, although the Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-government in population centers. Israeli forces operate throughout the territory, while Israeli settlers are subject to Israeli civilian law.

The different legal systems have drawn accusations of systematic discrimination from major human rights organizations, some of which have characterized Israeli rule in the West Bank as apartheid. Israel rejects that characterization.

The Qusra confrontation has also exposed a long-running dispute over who should enforce Israeli law against settlers accused of violence.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday that he wanted law enforcement responsibilities involving Israeli settlers to be transferred fully to the Israeli police. He has previously said Israeli civilians should not be subjected to administrative detention, a measure that Israel has also used against Palestinians and, in some cases, Jewish extremists.

Katz said the military's primary responsibility was fighting Palestinian militants and protecting Israel's borders and settlements, rather than pursuing what he called "boys on the hills."

The Israeli military has nevertheless said the actions in Qusra were "illegal, reprehensible and unacceptable." It said troops had dismantled two outposts in the area and detained one Israeli.

Rights groups argue that Israeli authorities have frequently failed to hold settlers accountable for violence against Palestinians. Israeli rights organization Yesh Din says about 94% of investigations into settler violence since 2005 ended without an indictment, while only about 3% resulted in full or partial convictions.

Settler violence has intensified since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.

The administration of President Joe Biden imposed sanctions on some settlers and Israeli organizations accused of violence against Palestinians. Several other Western governments later announced sanctions against hard-line Israeli ministers, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, accusing them of encouraging extremist violence.

President Donald Trump rescinded the U.S. sanctions after returning to office for a second term and appointed Huckabee, a prominent supporter of Israeli settlements, as ambassador to Israel.

Trump's administration has continued to maintain close ties with Netanyahu's government, while the White House has also emphasized the need for regional stability and a broader peace agreement.

For Netanyahu, the Qusra confrontation carries a complicated political cost.

Israel is expected to hold elections around October, and Netanyahu relies on support from powerful members of his right-wing coalition who have long advocated expanding settlements and strengthening Israeli control over the West Bank.

A public condemnation of the settlers could anger those allies. At the same time, continued violence and disorder in the West Bank could deepen criticism of Netanyahu's government, including over its ability to enforce Israeli law against Jewish extremists.

Opposition politicians have accused the government of allowing lawlessness to spread.

Gadi Eisenkot, a former senior military commander and prominent Netanyahu rival, criticized the government's handling of Qusra, accusing it of weakening military commanders while confronting "anarchy and violent lawbreaking by an extremist minority."

Eisenkot has also opposed proposals to annex the West Bank. Yet he has said he supports Israeli settlements that he believes serve Israel's interests and has stopped short of openly advocating for a Palestinian state.

Another Netanyahu rival, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, has also condemned the violence while maintaining his support for the settlement movement.

"Precisely as someone who believes in our right to the land and in the settlement enterprise, we need to denounce this and eradicate the violence from within our own ranks," Bennett said in an interview with Israeli media.