Israeli terrorist settlers, under army protection, maintained a tight siege Tuesday for a 10th day on three Palestinian homes in Qusra, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, a local official said.
Since Aug. 9, occupiers have laid a siege around three Palestinian families, comprising around 13 people, in the Ras al-Ain area of the town, obstructing the delivery of food, water and basic supplies.
Qusra Mayor Abdul Azim al-Wadi told Turkish Anadolu Agency (AA) that Israeli forces and occupiers continued to surround the three homes, preventing families from entering or leaving, as the area has been declared a "closed military zone."
"The occupiers are deployed in the area and move freely," he said.
Wadi said the owner of one of the homes, Louay Abu Rida, a U.S. citizen, managed Monday to reach his home, accompanied by an American delegation.
"It was very difficult to see your home and family besieged through surveillance cameras and the hardest part was that I was far away from them and unable to reach them," Abu Rida told AA after he arrived in the town.
He said that as soon as he arrived in the town from the U.S., the scenes he had been watching remotely had become a reality around his home, with occupiers reaching the vicinity despite the presence of the Israeli army in the area.
"We were told the army was there to protect us and keep the occupiers away, but what we saw on the ground was different,” Abu Rida said.
Last Thursday, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee issued a rare condemnation of the Jewish settlers in Qusra, calling them "terrorists" while denouncing those responsible for their "thuggish behavior."
The Ras al-Ain area has seen repeated attacks by occupiers in recent months to establish an illegal settlement outpost and seize Palestinian land and homes. Palestinians have warned that the siege could become a tool to displace residents and take over their property.
Separately, a Palestinian was injured by Israeli army fire in al-Ram town, north of occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
Israeli soldiers opened fire at a Palestinian near the separation wall in al-Ram, witnesses said. The circumstances of the shooting remain unclear.
The shooting came amid escalating attacks by the Israeli army and occupiers across the West Bank since the Gaza war in October 2023, killing more than 1,100 people, according to Palestinian figures.
