The violent annexation of the West Bank: From the siege of Qusra to de facto sovereign control

The ongoing, siege of Palestinian homes in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, shows how Israel’s creeping annexation of the occupied West Bank has shifted into an accelerated, paramilitary phase. Beginning on August 10, 2026, armed extremist settlers surrounded three Palestinian homes on the village outskirts—including the property of Palestinian-American Loui Ridi—blocking doors, severing water and electricity lines, and threatening residents at gunpoint to abandon their land. Rather than arresting the aggressors, the Israeli military responded by declaring the area a  military zone and physically barring Palestinian residents while protecting armed settler encampments. What began as a localized terror campaign against families in their homes—coming just weeks after settlers torched Qusra’s Al-Rahma mosque on July 26, 2026—is not an […]