Settlers hold Qusra siege as Israeli troops pull back

Yesh Din told Central Command chief Avi Bluth on Tuesday that seven people, among them girls aged 10 and four, had been trapped for three days, with the access roads blocked by stones and the power, solar and water lines cut. Bluth visited the families on Wednesday morning and promised to remove the settlers; soldiers took away their tent but left bedding and other belongings behind, and the army said it was still enforcing a closed military zone. The Guardian reported that settlers had blocked an ambulance on Monday when one of the daughters fell ill. Chief of staff Eyal Zamir ordered an extra infantry battalion into the sector that evening.