Palestinians ‘starving’ as Israeli settlers maintain siege on West Bank town

Palestinians trapped in their homes in Qusra have been running out of food as extremist settlers maintain their siege of the occupied West Bank town and the regime forces block food deliveries.

The settler blockade on three Palestinian houses in the Ras al-Ain area of Qusra, south of Nablus, where around 15 people live, had entered its 13th day.

Aisha Hassan, who is sheltering in one of three besieged homes with her mother and brother, said on Thursday that they were “starving”, the Middle East Eye news portal reported on Thursday. 

“The municipal council tried to bring us food, but the soldiers prevented them, and the food was left outside,” Hassan added. “UNICEF staff were able to deliver some food to us a few days ago, and now it’s starting to spoil.”

Israeli soldiers arrived last week, ostensibly to remove the settlers, but have since effectively contributed to the siege by blocking food deliveries to the families.

Abdul-Azim Wadi, Qusra’s mayor, said he was in constant contact with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to arrange food deliveries, but the Israeli military was deliberately obstructing the process.

He also noted that food boxes delivered by UNICEF were left outside for 24 hours before the occupation soldiers allowed the families to collect them, by which time some had spoiled.

The mayor further said that he had arranged to enter one of the encircled houses, owned by Palestinian-American Luay Abu Rida, but the Israeli army commander refused him entry and turned him back, allowing only journalists to enter. 

Meanwhile, Ruqaya Hassan, a Palestinian mother from Qusra, said the siege has been particularly difficult for her two young daughters who have developed bedwetting.

She also appealed to the international community to intervene against Israeli settlement outposts and attacks by settlers and Israeli forces.

“The settlers’ aggression and the Israeli army’s aggression against the Palestinians must stop,” she said.

Israel outsourcing coercion to settlers in occupied West Bank: UN’s Albanese

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese says Israel bears responsibility for settler violence in the West Bank and is effectively outsourcing coercion to them.

Last week, Amnesty International denounced the settler violence in Qusra as part of a “strategic settler terror” against Palestinians, which was “enabled, backed and funded” by the Tel Aviv regime to displace Palestinians across the occupied West Bank.

Additionally, the Israeli-Palestinian group Combatants for Peace said the siege was not an isolated incident but reflected a “broader reality in which Palestinian communities face daily settler terrorism while those responsible continue to enjoy impunity”.

Palestinians in the West Bank have been subjected to escalating Israeli military actions and settler violence, amid the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has killed over 73,000 people in the coastal territory since October 2023.

Since then, Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 1,182 Palestinians across the West Bank, injured thousands, and abducted around 24,000, according to official Palestinian figures.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir