Settler violence intensifies in occupied West Bank villages of Kusra and Jalud

Extremist Israeli settlers imposed a makeshift siege on the Palestinian village of Kusra in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, severing electric cables and water supplies, while the nearby village of Jalud has experienced five major settler assaults since January, including a vehicle-burning incident on August 4, according to reporting by The Jerusalem Post and Al Jazeera.

In Kusra, settler extremists set up a tent in the village, cut electric cables, and severed water tubes. Resident Marmar Odeh told KAN Reshet Bet that residents cannot open their windows and have been without electricity, and without running water for more than two weeks, relying on cistern water that he described as not ideal for drinking.

Odeh recounted that after Israeli army forces departed, masked men came to his home, searched him, and checked his identification. He said journalists, including Israelis, were present and documented the incident. He described the situation as 'the first time he felt there was no law in the State of Israel,' according to The Jerusalem Post.

Odeh also described a case in which a young girl in his family broke her arm and was unable to receive timely medical care. He told KAN that an ambulance was turned back by the army and blocked by settlers, and that permission had to be obtained the following day before the girl and her mother could be transported to hospital.

The Mayor of Kusra told Al Jazeera that the Israeli military closed off the village, imposed a curfew, and deployed soldiers in an effort to dismantle the settler outpost. Later on Thursday, according to The Jerusalem Post citing KAN, the IDF reversed earlier calls for residents to evacuate.

In Jalud, a village of approximately 1,000 Palestinians located 27 kilometres south of Nablus, settler graffiti including the slogans 'Revenge,' 'Burn in hell,' and 'Get out of the village' has been sprayed on homes and public buildings including a school, according to Al Jazeera. The outlet reported that five major settler assaults have taken place in the village since January 2026, the most recent on August 4 involving vehicle burning and racist slogans on a residential building.

Resident Misbah al-Haj Mohammed told Al Jazeera that some graffiti bears the names of settlers involved in previous attacks, and that messages on school walls are intended to intimidate children. Village council head Raed al-Haj Mohammed described the slogans as 'racist and liquidationist,' associated with the Hilltop Youth, a decentralised network of mostly Jewish youths aged 15 to 20 that Al Jazeera describes as among the most prominent violent settler groups in the West Bank.

Researcher Azzam Abu al-Adas, described by Al Jazeera as a specialist in Israeli affairs, said the choice of graffiti reflects 'deep ideological concepts,' including an explicit call for what he characterised as genocide aimed at creating a 'zero-Arab state.' He also referenced the Price Tag movement, a far-right settler network that emerged in 2008, saying its members view Palestinians as occupiers who must be made to leave permanently.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told Reshet Bet that while he admires settlers who build outposts, 'there are some among them who really need to be stopped,' according to The Jerusalem Post. Yisrael Gantz, head of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council and chairman of the Yesha Council, called the Kusra incident 'improper and unacceptable,' stating there is 'no place for making a private decision to establish a hilltop outpost in the yard of a house' and 'no justification whatsoever for violence against uninvolved people or against security forces.'

• The IDF has not been quoted directly in either source explaining its decisions regarding the ambulance, the curfew, or the evacuation order reversal.
• The identity and organisational affiliation of the specific settlers involved in the Kusra siege have not been established by either source.
• The number of settlers involved in the Kusra siege is not stated in either source.
• It is not established whether any arrests have been made in connection with the Kusra siege or the Jalud attacks.
• The current status of the Kusra settler outpost — whether it has been dismantled — is not confirmed by either source.
• The extent of injuries or property damage in Kusra beyond the described incidents is not quantified.
• Israeli government or military comment specifically on the Jalud attacks is absent from both sources.
• The Israeli settlers involved in the Jalud attacks have not been identified or given an opportunity to respond in either source.

1. The Jerusalem Post — original — by YONAH JEREMY BOB
2. Al Jazeera English — by Ola Mohammad

Read the original at The Jerusalem Post

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