LONDON: An Israeli-Palestinian nonprofit organization on Monday urged the EU and the governments of the UK, Canada and Australia to impose sanctions on Avi Bluth, head of the Israeli military’s Central Command, for failure to prevent mounting attacks by settlers on Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank.
Combatants for Peace said senior Israeli military officials share the responsibility for violence attributed to settlers because they are charged with protecting Palestinian civilians and enforcing the law.
The call for sanctions was submitted on the group’s behalf by Israeli human rights lawyer Eitay Mack. It comes as three Palestinian families in the village of Qusra, in the Nablus Governorate, remained confined to their homes for a ninth day, according to the town’s mayor, and after gunfire was reported on Saturday near a joint Israeli-Palestinian event on the outskirts of Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem.
Several Western governments have imposed sanctions on Israeli settlers and settler organizations but have not targeted senior Israeli military officers.
איך עדיין יש מתנחלים בראש ההר בקוסרה?
יום חמישי למבצע פינוי המאחזים ממרחב קוסרה-ג׳אלוד ואכיפת צו השטח הצבאי הסגור.
מתנחלים מתקרבים- חיילים ניגשים אליהם ולוחצים את ידם.
אחרי מספר דקות המתנחלים התרחקו תוך מחוות יד למשפחות. pic.twitter.com/cbuDvb7dAu
— Matan Golan (@MatanGolanPhoto) August 17, 2026
Combatants for Peace accused Bluth, who has overall military authority in the West Bank, of failing to prevent attacks on Palestinian communities, protect civilians and hold settlers accountable.
The organization said impunity for settler violence and the displacement of Palestinian communities were part of a broader campaign to put pressure on Palestinians and facilitate land seizures.
“Qusra and Beit Sahour are not isolated incidents,” Combatants for Peace told Arab News. “They reflect a broader reality in which Palestinian communities face daily settler terrorism while those responsible continue to enjoy impunity.
“Our response is not violence but a joint Israeli-Palestinian nonviolent struggle against the occupation and against all attacks on human life.
“The international community must move beyond condemning settler terrorism and ensure accountability for those in positions of command whose actions — or failure to act — allow these abuses to continue.”
Palestinians erect a tent in solidarity with the residents of three homes, one seen on the opposite hill, besieged by Israeli settlers, in Qusra on Aug. 17, 2026. (AFP)
Combatants for Peace said shots were fired during the event on Saturday near Beit Sahour from the direction of a nearby Israeli outpost, but no injuries were reported. Bishop William Shomali of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, representatives of Beit Sahour municipality and journalists were among those present.
The organization added that it had video footage showing an armed Israeli settler firing into the air before pointing his weapon toward participants at the event. Israeli soldiers arrived about 30 minutes after the shooting began, it said.
Meanwhile, about 15 Palestinians from three families, including two children, have been confined to their homes in Qusra’s Ras Al-Ain area since Aug. 9, the local mayor, Abdul Azim Al-Wadi, told Turkiye’s state-run Anadolu news agency.
Settlers, protected by Israeli soldiers, had blocked deliveries of food, water and other necessities, he said. Municipal authorities and international organizations managed to provide water, food and electricity on Sunday but conditions remained difficult, he added.
Qusra this morning.
The strongest army in the Middle East is still in the area. The settlers are also roaming freely near the houses and inside the village. They behave as if they are the owners, blatantly violating the closed area order, moving around on foot and by ATV,… pic.twitter.com/VLutKWZ2ZF— מסתכלים לכיבוש בעיניים (@Mistaclim) August 17, 2026
The Israeli forces have extended their operations in the area until Tuesday evening after initially planning to end them on Sunday morning, Al-Wadi said. The military told local officials the deployment was intended to remove the settlers and end the siege, he added, but soldiers instead took over a home in Qusra and turned it into a military position.
“Residents do not sleep,” Al-Wadi said. “The army could have arrested or expelled the settlers if they were willing to but the army is a partner in the operation.”
The people of Ras Al-Ain have faced repeated attacks in recent months as settlers attempt to establish an unauthorized outpost and seize Palestinian homes and land, he added.
The affected homes are in Area B of the West Bank, where Palestinians are in charge of civil administration but Israel retains security control, under the terms of the Oslo Accords.
Palestinian groups and international rights organizations have warned that the siege could pressure residents into leaving, allowing settlers to take over their property. Amnesty International said last week the events in Qusra fit what it characterized as an expanding pattern of settler violence enabled by Israeli authorities.
איך הולך המבצע הצבאי לפינוי המתנחלים מקוסרא, אתם שואלים? ובכן צפו בעצמכם. ואם גם תהיתם, בזמן שהמתנחלים עדיין שם לוחצים את הידיים לחיילי צה"ל, התושבים הפלסטינים שפונו מבתיהם בשביל החיילים - עדיין מחוץ לבית.
צילום: מתן גולן, הארץ pic.twitter.com/utVZW0qNni
— Alon-Lee Green - ألون-لي جرين - אלון-לי גרין (@AlonLeeGreen) August 17, 2026
“The horrors unfolding in Qusra reflect the relentless escalation and expansion of an accelerating and well-documented pattern of coordinated and strategic settler terror, enabled, backed and funded by the State of Israel,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty’s senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns.
Residents told the organization that Israeli forces ordered two besieged families and six neighboring families to leave their homes for several hours on Thursday, then used the properties as military positions.
“Instead of removing the attackers, the Israeli forces removed the attacked families while allowing the settlers to stay all this time,” one resident told Amnesty.
Guevara Rosas said: “Israel, as the occupying power, has a legal obligation to protect the Palestinian population under its control and not to stand by, or worse, stand with settlers while they lay siege to Palestinian homes and cut off families’ access to healthcare, electricity and water for days on end.”
In a report published in June, Amnesty said Israel had made formal annexation of the West Bank an explicit policy objective, and had expanded settlements, land seizures, settlement support and the arming of settlers.
Israeli authorities deny allegations that its settlement policies amount to annexation or that they systematically enable violence against Palestinians.
Amnesty said recent attacks in Tell, Taybeh and Qusra suggested that violence and displacement were expanding beyond Area C, the portion of the West Bank under full Israeli control, and were no longer confined to Bedouin and herding communities.
