After hours of tension in the Palestinian village of Qusra, IDF forces deployed in the area Thursday to protect residents and maintain security, while Jewish rioters returned to the site of an illegal outpost after structures there had been dismantled.
The IDF stressed that troops “will not operate in the home of the Palestinian family located near the point where the evacuated and dismantled shed had been erected.”
IDF deploys in Qusra as settlers return to evacuated outpost and tensions persist
Earlier, military forces and the Civil Administration removed sheds and temporary structures from the illegal outpost in the village.
Abdel Azim al-Wadi, head of the Qusra council, told ynet that settlers remained around the cluster of homes and that access was still restricted.
“At the moment there is a siege on the area of the houses. The settlers are there and residents cannot reach them,” he said.
Two families living in the affected homes have since returned, according to al-Wadi. He said they had been kept outside from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on military orders. Residents were initially told the homes could be used by the military for three days, but the forces left earlier.
Al-Wadi said troops entered eight homes during the operation, based on information passed to residents through the Palestinian administration, but later withdrew. He also alleged that property was damaged during the searches.
“There is one house where the army took the DVR from the security cameras, and in another house, unfortunately, most of the furniture was destroyed,” he said.
Humanitarian conditions remain a major concern. Al-Wadi said water and electricity supplies had still not been restored, while efforts were underway to coordinate basic necessities through the Palestinian administration and the military.
He added that UNICEF had asked to receive documentation from the village in order to help provide basic supplies and restore services to the homes.
UN warns violence at ‘intolerable levels’
The developments came as the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories issued a sharp warning, saying settler violence and attacks on Palestinian homes had reached “intolerable levels.”
The office called on Israel to act against settlers involved in violence, home invasions and land seizures.
According to the UN, since the establishment of an outpost near Qusra in November 2025, settlers have taken control of areas west of the village in Area B and violence has increased, including home invasions, physical assaults, vandalism, theft and arson, including damage to a local mosque.
The UN said settlers cut water and electricity supplies to three Palestinian homes last month. On August 9, gates and access roads were blocked and a tent erected at the site, preventing three families, around 15 people including at least two children, from entering or leaving.
Settlers blocking roadways into Qusra
The office alleged that the families asked IDF troops at the scene to intervene but received no assistance. It also claimed that soldiers prevented rescuers, activists and journalists from reaching them.
At the same time, IDF troops took up positions Thursday in three homes in the Palestinian village of Jalud, south of Nablus, indicating that tensions in the southern Nablus area remain high even after troops withdrew from homes in Qusra.
Security forces also demolished the Tel Talpiot outpost overnight, about 400 meters from the outpost established near the affected Qusra homes, along with two other outposts, one in Samaria and one in the Binyamin area.
Golani Brigade's 51st Battalion was deployed to the area to help protect the sector and prevent friction. The battalion recently completed operations in Gaza and is expected to move to the Lebanon sector.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also issued a follow-up statement Thursday evening that softened his earlier criticism of the Jewish rioters.
After calling those who imposed the siege in Qusra “Israeli terrorists” earlier in the day, Huckabee drew a distinction between the rioters and the broader settler community.
“‘Settlers’ are not the problem in Judea and Samaria. ‘Unsettlers’ are,” he wrote. “Very small minority who do great damage to Palestinian families & to Israel.”