LONDON: The UN human rights office on Thursday urged Israeli authorities to protect Palestinian families trapped in their homes for days by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, amid what it described as an intensifying campaign to seize Palestinian land.
Three families, comprising about 15 people, including at least two children, were confined to their homes in the Ras Al-Ein area of Qusra, a village south of Nablus, “in a state of terror,” the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said.
Settlers had cut off their electricity and water, according to media reports.
“These criminal actions by the settlers, supported or acquiesced to by Israel, the Occupying Power, are making life unbearable for these Palestinian families and are clearly aimed at forcing them to leave their homes and their land,” the OHCHR said.
“Time is running out for these three families before they are forcibly displaced.”
Ajith Sunghay, head of the OHCHR in the occupied Palestinian territory, later told UN News the families had been moved into a single home that remained surrounded by settlers.
He accused Israeli forces of failing to protect Palestinian communities, saying the military was either “unable or unwilling” to do so under the Geneva Conventions, or was acting in collusion with settlers to displace Palestinians and take their land.
Sunghay said Israeli soldiers had evacuated about 20 Palestinian families from Qusra for what the military described as security reasons. He said international action was urgently needed as settler violence escalated across the West Bank.
“We really welcome statements, we really welcome dialogue,” Sunghay said. “However, this is simply not enough. I think we are past the stage of boiling point. We are seeing unprecedented level of settler violence and we call on Member States to act, use its leverage in every possible manner.”
The OHCHR said attacks on Palestinians in Qusra had become more frequent since November 2025, when settlers established a nearby outpost. The office said earlier requests for Israeli forces at the site to intervene had not helped.
“Instead, Israeli security forces seem to have blocked medics, solidarity activists and journalists from reaching the families,” the OHCHR said. Although soldiers dismantled settlers’ tents on Wednesday, the settlers continued to surround the Palestinian homes, it said.
The developments in Qusra came amid other reported settler-related incidents in the West Bank.
Sunghay pointed to the Israeli military’s decision on Tuesday to restrict entry to Taybeh to residents, a measure he said was intended to shield people from settler attacks but left Palestinians bearing the consequences.
“In such circumstances … it’s the Palestinians who pay the price and face the brunt of the problems, although it’s the Israelis who are settlers who are creating violence, attacks, and issues for the Palestinians,” he said.
Sunghay also said settlers had returned to Ganim, one of four northern West Bank settlements evacuated by Israel in 2005. The others were Kadim, Sa-Nur and Homesh.
He described the move as part of a broader pattern of renewed settlement activity in the territory. “This is a trend that we have seen repeatedly that’s happening in West Bank,” he said.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, when Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after a Hamas-led attack, 1,122 Palestinians had been killed in the occupied West Bank through July 24, 2026, including 76 this year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Israeli forces or settlers injured at least 37 Palestinians from July 28 through Aug. 3, while 35 settler attacks were documented during that period, the OCHA said on Aug. 7.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, home to about 3.4 million Palestinians, since 1967. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in July that Israeli settlements in the territory have no legal validity and constitute a “flagrant violation” of international law.
