“I strongly condemn the criminal acts of violence committed in the villages of Qusra and Jalud by a handful of rioters who are violating the law.” That was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, August 29, after settlers swarmed two Palestinian villages in the northern West Bank. Israeli leaders rarely speak this bluntly about settler attacks, and the reaction at home and abroad reflected it.
In Qusra, near Nablus, residents and the Israeli military both said dozens of settlers came into the village, threw stones at people and shut themselves inside a house while Palestinians were still in it. Resident Yussef Abdul Kareem Hassan told AFP how it started. A small group walked up to villagers who were working on a house. The group called for backup, then came back with dozens more and surrounded the people inside.
Soldiers and border police were sent to the scene. The military said they worked to get the settlers out of the house and keep the two groups apart. Netanyahu said security forces “seized three vehicles, and brought an end to the incident within a short time,” though he did not say whether anyone was arrested. According to ABC News, the vehicles were held as evidence for the police investigation.
A second village, and a reporting team
In nearby Jalud, NBC News said masked settlers attacked its reporting team and injured members of it, along with a Palestinian woman the crew had gone to interview. For families in these villages, the pattern is by now grimly familiar: a quiet afternoon of ordinary work, then a crowd at the door.
Qusra had already been under strain. Earlier in August, a group of settlers began stopping supplies from reaching Palestinian homes on the edge of the village, leaving residents trapped inside. The US ambassador criticized that blockade in unusually strong terms. By the weekend, nearly three weeks of tension had passed.
Other voices
President Isaac Herzog condemned the Qusra attack as well, and Israel’s foreign ministry called the violence unacceptable.
The Times of Israel described Netanyahu’s statement as his first public comment on the violence in the two villages, and recalled how he has treated the issue before. In December 2025 he put the number of violent settlers at 70 youths. By July 2026 he had raised it to 150 “juvenile delinquents.” Activists reject that picture. They say organized settlers from illegal outposts across the West Bank carry out these attacks, and that the government funds and protects those communities. Prosecutions and convictions, the paper noted, remain exceptionally rare.
The wider toll
More than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements, which are illegal under international law, among some three million Palestinians. Israel has held the territory since 1967. AFP counts at least 1,103 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or settlers there since October 2023, while Israeli figures show at least 48 Israelis killed in the same period.
Attacks on Palestinian villages have been rising in recent months. Whether Saturday’s condemnation leads to arrests in Qusra and Jalud is something families in both villages will be watching for.
Sources
- Netanyahu condemns settler attack in flashpoint West Bank village (AFP via France 24)
- Benjamin Netanyahu condemns West Bank settler violence after renewed attacks (ABC News Australia)
- Breaking silence, Netanyahu decries 'criminal violence' after settlers again attack besieged West Bank village (The Times of Israel)
