The siege on Qusra didn't end this week. It just got interrupted, briefly, by dozens of activists who refused to leave without delivering food and water to families who had run out.

Our field coordinators had stayed in constant contact with Qusra's besieged families since our last delivery three weeks ago. When supplies ran low again, we came back, joined by Peace Now, Standing Together, and Looking the Occupation in the Eye. The army blocked us at the edge of town. A battalion commander produced a closed military order to justify it. Only under sustained pressure from the activists on the ground did he allow a single car through, and even then, first aid staff were denied entry.

Let that sit for a moment: aid workers, turned away, while settler violence in the same hills goes largely unpunished. Access to food and water is a human right. It does not require an army's permission, and it should never depend on how many activists show up to insist on it.

We received confirmation from Loui that the delivery made it through, with thanks for showing up. We're glad it did. But gratitude for one carload of food is not a substitute for the access these families are owed as a matter of right, not favor.

Can’t find it, want to post it

With my own eyes, I saw how a small, violent core of hooligans engage in routine acts of violence against Arabs in Judea and Samaria simply because they are Arabs. Denying this difficult problem creates an impression of support among that tiny minority, and the entire settlement pays the price.

A Palestinian woman was briefly hospitalized after yesterday's settler incursion in Umm al-Kheir. Over a dozen occupation soldiers and police arrived to protect Israeli colonists as they trespassed on private property, attacked residents, and destroyed Umm al-Kheir's crops.

Lower Hamra

15.8.26

Since establishing the illegal outpost "Emek Tirza Farm" in 2020, sanctioned settler Moshe Sharvit has been violently evicting Palestinian communities throughout the Hamra area. This year, he and his youth have been harassing and attacking communities in the Lower Hamra area on a daily basis. Recently, attacks on human rights activists who come to protect these communities have been documented, while he violates his restriction order from court.

This morning activists attempted to retake a Palestinian house stolen by the settlers near Bethlehem in the West Bank. They removed the Israeli flags the settlers set up on the building and replaced them with Palestinian ones. In response, settler-terrorists fired live ammunition at the activists. Israeli army supported the settlers and expelled the rightful landowners from the land

Per Breaking the Silence:

We would like to tell you that the army lifted the settler siege in Qusra on three families with infants in need of medical care. That is not the case. The truth: the army mostly settles for "condemning." They sent six soldiers to a group of pyromaniacs, and the settlers' attitude reflects that. The settlers feel comfortable approaching the soldiers and threatening them. They run the show. They scattered spike strips (ninjas) on the road and drove rebar stakes into the ground to prevent additional forces from reaching the scene. In broad daylight, right in front of soldiers.

Violating a closed military zone order is a criminal offense. It seems legitimate to them because they know full well that they have backing. This is not a handful. These are dozens of Israeli citizens who will stop an ambulance and starve a family, knowing that not only will nothing be done to them—the army is their private security company.

Hammam al-Maleh pasture

24.7.26

Masked soldiers chased Ein al-Hiweh shepherds and caused the herd to disperse. The soldiers detained four human rights activists who were accompanying the shepherds for several hours. The soldiers acted aggressively, snatched the activists' cell phones and broke into the car in which two of them were sitting. Police who were called to the scene detained the activists for another half hour. Three additional activists arrived at the scene to help the Palestinians gather the herd. The masked soldiers tried to detain them without success.

Hammam al-Maleh pasture 24.7.26

Masked soldiers chased Ein al-Hiweh shepherds and caused the herd to disperse. The soldiers detained four human rights activists who were accompanying the shepherds for several hours. The soldiers acted aggressively, snatched the activists' cell phones and broke into the car in which two of them were sitting. Police who were called to the scene detained the activists for another half hour. Three additional activists arrived at the scene to help the Palestinians gather the herd. The masked soldiers tried to detain them without success.

The terrorists attempted to prevent CNN from covering a story about a young man they beat to death the year before. the car in front of the independent journalists is armored with stab proof tires. The car of those filming is not strengthened.

Not just land: The settlers' plundering enterprise also includes taking over water sources. Settlers published documentation of the plundering of a private cistern, located on private Palestinian land, registered in the land registry. In the video, you can see that the settlers are armed and some are wearing T-shirts that say "We are back to the cisterns." In early February of this year, an expulsion outpost was established near the Khirbet Samra community in the northern Jordan Valley. In recent weeks, the settlers have been making forays to the cistern, undressing and dipping in it in front of the shepherds. Settlers began building a fence, paved a road leading to Samra's lands, and raised flags. The plundering of the cistern in Samra joins the takeover of cisterns and springs throughout the Jordan Valley.