Settlers have besieged the West Bank home of a Palestinian family in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, since Sunday, August 10, trapping Youssef Hassan, his wife, and their two daughters, aged two and four, inside for days, according to The Times of Israel. [1]
The settlers erected a makeshift structure blocking the entrance to the home. When Israeli soldiers arrived on Sunday, they were filmed praying with the settlers and then leaving without removing them. [1]
Hassan said the family was "running out of food" and that his two-year-old daughter "needed to see a doctor." [1]
Doron Meinert, an Israeli activist, described the family as "trapped in their home, with a violent and armed settler militia threatening them, with the aim of pressuring them to abandon the house." [1]
The Israeli military said the incident was "being investigated by the commanders" and that "disciplinary action will be taken in accordance with the findings." [1]
The siege stretched into Tuesday, August 12, with the family still confined. The immediate cost falls on two small children and their parents, who by their own account were short of food and unable to reach a doctor while the soldiers who came to the scene left the settlers in place.
