New Israeli roadblocks entrench siege of homes in West Bank’s Qusra

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that Israeli authorities installed three new roadblocks with metal gates on Wednesday around homes in the Ras al-Ain area of Qusra, a Palestinian village in the occupied northern West Bank south of Nablus. The move follows weeks of pressure on three homes in the area, where Israeli settlers have maintained a siege since August 9 and Israeli forces have declared the surroundings a closed military zone.

According to the article, the new barriers effectively ring the hilltop homes and cut off a road that connects that part of Qusra with the rest of the village as well as nearby Talfit and Jalud. Residents said the placement of the gates makes the restriction on movement feel more permanent, since access is now controlled by Israeli forces stationed nearby and the keys are held by the military.

One of the affected residents is Loui Ridi, a Palestinian-American living in Ohio who returned to Qusra after the siege began. He and another local, Abdel Hakim Wadi, said the closures have prevented free entry and exit and limited access to land below the hill. Wadi said his plot includes olive trees, other fruit trees and a water well that he says settlers have used.

The report says the development matters because it appears to shift a settler-led siege into a more formalized military restriction, deepening concerns among Palestinians in Qusra about losing access to homes and farmland. More broadly, it reflects a pattern of movement restrictions and roadblocks in the West Bank that have expanded since the war in Gaza began in October 2023.