The US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called them “Israeli terrorists”. The condemnation came as the siege of some homes by settlers continued for days in the Palestinian village of Qusra, south of Nablus, and the Israeli army launched an operation that led to the dismantling of two illegal outposts and the removal of Palestinian families from their homes. Today the West Bank is a “powder keg that could explode at any moment,” in the words of a senior Israeli security official to Haaretz.
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“The US embassy in Jerusalem was very involved and the IDF and Israeli police intervened at our request to remove the Israeli terrorists responsible for all this,” Huckabee wrote on X. “The actions against this family’s home are criminal.” The ambassador called what he described as “a horrible act of terrorism aimed at intimidating and harassing this family” “disgusting,” adding that “there are no excuses for such thug behavior.”
The family the ambassador referred to is that of Lou Ridi, a Palestinian-American citizen residing in Ohio. The brother, Qusai Abu Rida, 48, and the teenage son were in the home. Ridi told the Associated Press that for several days the two were unable to receive new supplies of food and water. According to his testimony, the house had been subject to intimidation for months, with settlers cutting off water and electricity and throwing stones, damaging the property. “We are prisoners in our own home, hostages in our own home,” he denounced. On Thursday morning, August 13, Qusai Abu Rida reported that he and his son had been moved by the Israeli army to another house, but were not allowed to leave the area. The IDF did not confirm the transfer. The mayor of Qusra, Abdel Azim Wadi, told the Associated Press that a total of seven homes had been evacuated to allow Israeli forces to take positions in the village.
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Huckabee also denied that direct intervention by the White House was necessary. According to the ambassador, the US representation was already following the matter and had kept Washington constantly informed. Huckabee has long been close to the Israeli settler movement and in the past has supported Israeli control over the occupied West Bank, while condemning episodes of violence.
The siege of Qusra began last Sunday. Settlers blocked access to some homes and prevented the occupants from leaving. Israeli soldiers intervened in an attempt to restore order. On Tuesday the army called the siege “illegal, reprehensible and unacceptable” and declared the area a closed military zone. But by Wednesday dozens of settlers had returned to the area and again blocked a road with stones. Even after the latest military operation, according to residents and Israeli media, some settlers remained in the area. Reuters reports that the siege and blockades continued despite the army’s attempts to remove them.
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