Besieged Qusra resident says troops told him to leave home; IDF says it’s deploying ‘to protect residents’

Kusay Abu Ridi, a resident of one of the besieged homes in Qusra, tells The Times of Israel that soldiers entered his home a few minutes ago and told him that he must leave within half an hour. He says they did not provide a reason.

Responding to a Times of Israel query on the matter, the IDF says that troops are deploying in homes in the area in order to protect the residents.

“IDF troops are deploying in homes in the village area in a defensive posture in order to maintain a presence in the village and protect the residents, including in one of the Palestinian homes whose residents are said to be under siege, in order to protect them,” the IDF says.

The military does not address the claim that the homeowners were told to leave their homes.

Settlers are still blocking the entrances to the homes for a fifth consecutive day, despite large numbers of Israeli security forces arriving at the scene this morning and demolishing makeshift structures erected by settlers in the area.