Fearing Its Widespread Use
Union for Justice Foundation: Encircling Palestinians in Their Homes Is a New Tactic Used by Settlers to Displace Them
19/08/2026 – Union for Justice Foundation
The Union for Justice Foundation stated that settler gangs have recently begun using the tactic of surrounding Palestinians in their homes with the aim of forcing them to leave their places of residence and villages, as a means of displacing them.
The Foundation noted that the continued siege imposed by settlers on three Palestinian families in their homes in the town of Qusra, south of Nablus, since the ninth of this month was not the first incident of its kind. Several similar incidents had occurred previously, confirming that settlers have begun to adopt this method in an organized and gradual manner.
It added: “At the end of last month, the Al-Toubasi family was forced to evacuate its home in the town of Jalud, south of Nablus. After spending five full days under siege without food, water, or electricity, two armed settlers attacked the house and threatened the homeowners with either leaving or being killed.”
Settlers do not use this tactic randomly or spontaneously. Rather, they study the location beforehand and tend to select relatively isolated homes, located away from residential communities and usually situated on the outskirts of a village or on a remote hilltop.
The Union for Justice Foundation continued: “Three days ago, settler gangs surrounded the home of citizen Mohammed Thabet Majed Hassoun, located east of the village of Beit Imrin, north of Nablus, and detained several people inside for several hours. The occupation forces then arrived and arrested all the citizens who were inside the house.”
Full Support from the Military
The Foundation emphasized that plans to surround Palestinians in their homes in order to force them to leave cannot be carried out by settler gangs without full support and backing from the Israeli military, which provides them with protection and logistical support on the ground.
To carry out this plan, settlers bring in bulldozers to cut off the roads surrounding the targeted home, preventing food and water from reaching those under siege, in addition to cutting off water and electricity lines and internet services.
Settlers maintain a permanent presence around the targeted homes, around the clock, armed with automatic rifles and “Tractoron” vehicles capable of moving through rough terrain, which they received as gifts from the extremist Israeli government.
The Union for Justice Foundation added: “Last Tuesday, settlers cut the electricity poles supplying the home of the Soufan family in the town of Burin, south of Nablus, near the settlement of Yitzhar, resulting in the loss of electricity to the house. The following day, they blocked the only road leading to the home with earth berms, with the aim of forcing its residents to leave.”
Success in Qusra Could Encourage Settlers to Expand the Practice
Today, Wednesday, the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem reported that 47 Palestinian families, comprising more than 300 individuals, half of them children, are facing an imminent risk of displacement in the Jordan Valley as a result of the Israeli occupation forces and settlers cutting off water lines supplying their homes.
The Union for Justice Foundation warned against the future widespread use by settlers of the tactic of surrounding Palestinians in their homes if their efforts in the town of Qusra succeed.
It added: “The success of settlers in expelling families from their homes in Qusra would encourage settlers to transfer this experience to other areas of the West Bank, and perhaps on a wider scale, without any regard for the divisions of the Palestinian territories into Areas A, B, and C. This requires Palestinian solidarity first and foremost, together with Arab and international support.”
Recently, a document issued by the Israeli organization B’Tselem revealed that 231 new settlement outposts and farms have been established since Benjamin Netanyahu’s government took office at the end of 2022. This has resulted in the confiscation of more than one million dunums—approximately 20 percent of the area of the West Bank—and the displacement of more than 120 Palestinian communities.
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