Symbolic imageUS presses Netanyahu over settlers as Qusra homes are occupied
Washington is pressing Israel's prime minister to condemn settlers besieging Palestinian families in the West Bank village of Qusra. Benjamin Netanyahu has not commented.
The pressure follows nearly a week of escalation in Qusra, where settlers set up an unauthorised outpost near three Palestinian homes around 9 or 10 August, officials told Reuters. The United Nations said about 15 Palestinians, including two children, were trapped without running water or electricity; one of the homes belongs to a Palestinian American in Ohio. US Ambassador Mike Huckabee called those involved "Israeli terrorists" on Thursday, 13 August. Reuters reported on Sunday that Palestinians say settlers have now occupied some homes.
Settlers return to the village
Some 15 settlers entered Qusra again on Saturday although the army had declared the area a closed military zone, and left once soldiers read them the order, Army Radio reported. The military is investigating why removing the outpost took 48 hours.
Enforcement handed to the police
Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the army on Friday to draft a plan shifting civilian law enforcement in the occupied West Bank to the police, under far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Palestinian Vice-President Hussein al-Sheikh called it a flagrant violation of international law.
Other opinions
The Jerusalem Post also carries Binyamin Regional Council reports of Palestinian attacks it says go unnoticed; Tehran Times frames Katz's order as covert annexation.