US officials to reportedly tour West Bank town that settler extremists are besieging
Times of Israel · LC · trust 54/100
A delegation of senior American officials intends to go to the West Bank village of Qusra in the next few days, where violent settlers have besieged Palestinians residents, to see for themselves what’s going on there, Israeli television reported Sunday.
The US officials reportedly asked that senior Israeli defense officials join them at the village south of Nablus, to explain what is going on there, and how they plan to tackle the broad spiraling phenomenon of Jewish settler violence. US envoy Jared Kushner is due in Israel on Monday, though there was no suggestion in the Channel 12 news report that he was set to join the trip.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee last week condemned the violent settlers at Qusra as “Israeli terrorists.”
As of earlier Sunday, settlers were near but not inside the village, where residents said the Israel Defense Forces was deployed but still not allowing them back to some homes.
The TV report said the IDF gave Israel Police “dozens of photos” of those who invaded the village and carried out violence there, so that the police will track and arrest them. However, the police have said that the IDF’s material does not specify what the photographed suspects did and thus does not constitute a basis for arrest.
According to the report, the Shin Bet was working to compile enough material to charge the suspects in the Qusra attacks.
Settler violence has mounted in recent years, with near-daily, sometimes deadly attacks taking place throughout the West Bank, but few suspects arrested and charged. Critics accuse the government of condoning or even encouraging the attacks. In addition, IDF troops have been accused of standing by and allowing the violence, or even aiding it in some cases.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has remained silent since the settlers first began besieging the homes in Qusra, which the United States reportedly wants him to publicly condemn.
Despite the reported frustration behind closed doors, the US has refrained from publicly calling out Israel over the latest wave of settler violence. The Trump administration has adopted a vastly different stance than former US president Joe Biden, who sanctioned violent settlers and regularly called out Israel for not addressing the phenomenon. Trump canceled Biden’s sanctions regime on his first day in office and has yet to weigh in on the issue personally.
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism , please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE , as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Read the original at Times of Israel →
Open in TruthVane →