Netanyahu condemns settler 'rioters' after extremists barricade Palestinian family inside their West Bank home
Extremist settlers forced their way into a Palestinian home in the West Bank village of Qusra, barricading themselves inside with the family still present.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has branded settler attackers "rioters" committing "criminal acts of violence" after dozens of extremists stormed the Palestinian village of Qusra, forcing a family into their own home and holding them there. Israeli President Isaac Herzog equally denounced the "lawbreakers" as acting "in complete opposition to the values of Israel." Netanyahu warned the attacks are "causing a grave injustice to the law-abiding Jewish community" and "harming Israel's standing in the world," and called on police to detain those responsible.
Qusra has faced weeks of escalating settler violence — since 9 August, settlers have besieged three homes, cutting off water and electricity to trapped families.
In nearby Jalud, masked settlers arrived in pick-up trucks, assaulting a Palestinian family along with a foreign media crew that was with them at the time.
Despite Netanyahu's condemnation, no arrests had been made by Saturday evening, and residents say Israeli soldiers protected settlers rather than trapped Palestinians.
