Conflict · West Bank siegeWest Bank Siege: 3 Families Cut Off as Army Fails to Remove SettlersAired August 16, 2026 at 10:11 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Three houses in Kusra, near Nablus,0:02>> [music]0:02>> in the occupied West Bank, have been0:04under siege since Sunday with0:06Palestinian families inside cut off from0:08food and supplies by groups of 50 to 1000:10highly armed Israeli settlers, while the0:13Israeli military has not removed [music]0:14the settlers. The Israeli military is0:16legally responsible as the occupying0:18power for protecting Palestinians,0:20[music] yet it has not evacuated the0:22settlers. The inaction is attributed to0:24contradictory political orders from a0:26paralyzed government playing to its0:28[music] hardline base.0:29The scale is concentrated and prolonged.0:32Three separate homes sealed for days0:34with Israeli and foreign activists who0:36tried to deliver food and water stopped0:38before they could resupply the families0:39inside. On August 14th, Defense Minister0:42Israel [music] Katz condemned settler0:44violence for the cameras while0:45inaugurating a settlement described as0:46illegal under both international and0:48Israeli law, and he has floated a0:50proposal described as illegal to0:52transfer all civil enforcement powers0:54over Israeli communities in Judea and0:55Samaria from the army to [music] police.0:57Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has0:59not publicly commented on filmed violent1:01acts, leaving the gap between a legal1:03duty to protect, [music] a staged1:05condemnation, and an illegal1:07inauguration on the same day with no1:09resolution on the ground. [music] This1:10account comes from a single France 241:12English report on August 15th that has1:14not yet been independently corroborated.1:16Whether the army will remove the1:18settlers, whether the transfer of1:19enforcement from the military [music] to1:21police will proceed, and what protection1:23remains for the families as the1:24primaries approach are all unresolved.1:27Like and follow for more stories that1:28matter.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗