US officials to reportedly tour West Bank town besieged by settler extremists
TV report says administration wants Israeli officials to join visit to Qusra; Shin Bet said working to compile sufficient evidence against suspects involved in the violence
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A delegation of senior American officials intends to go to the West Bank village of Qusra in the next few days, where violent settlers have besieged Palestinians residents, to see for themselves what’s going on there, Israeli television reported Sunday.
The US officials reportedly asked that senior Israeli defense officials join them at the village south of Nablus to explain what has been happening, and how they plan to tackle the broad spiraling phenomenon of Jewish settler violence. US envoy Jared Kushner is due in Israel on Monday, though there was no suggestion in the Channel 12 news report that he was set to join the trip.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee last week condemned the violent settlers at Qusra as “Israeli terrorists.”
As of earlier Sunday, settlers were near but not inside the village, where residents said the Israel Defense Forces was deployed but still not allowing them back to some homes.
The TV report said the IDF gave Israel Police “dozens of photos” of those who invaded the village and carried out violence there, so that the police will track and arrest them. However, the police have said that the IDF’s material does not specify what the photographed suspects did and thus does not constitute a basis for arrest.
According to the report, the Shin Bet was working to compile enough material to charge the suspects in the Qusra attacks.
Settler violence has mounted in recent years, with near-daily, sometimes deadly attacks taking place throughout the West Bank, but few suspects arrested and charged. Critics accuse the government of condoning or even encouraging the attacks. In addition, IDF troops have been accused of standing by and allowing the violence, or even aiding it in some cases.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has remained silent since the settlers first began besieging the homes in Qusra, which the United States reportedly wants him to condemn publicly.
Despite the reported frustration behind closed doors, the US has refrained from publicly calling out Israel over the latest wave of settler violence. The Trump administration has adopted a vastly different stance than former US president Joe Biden, who sanctioned violent settlers and regularly called out Israel for not addressing the phenomenon. Trump canceled Biden’s sanctions regime on his first day in office and has yet to weigh in on the issue personally.
The Times of Israel Community.