Eyewitnesses said that a large Israeli military force stormed Qusra and spread out in the town’s streets accompanied by dozens of vehicles, while the forces imposed a curfew and closed shops.
The raid comes amid escalating tensions in the Ras al-Ain area on the outskirts of the town, where settlers have erected a tent and temporary structures among Palestinian homes since Sunday, besieging three houses and preventing their residents from entering, leaving, or receiving visitors.
The Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said that settlers blocked roads leading to homes with stones, and obstructed access to food, water and medicine, while simultaneously cutting off water and electricity lines, warning that the siege was turning into an attempt to impose a permanent settlement reality and force families to leave their homes.
The besieged houses belong to the families of Youssef Abdel Salam, Rizq Abu Rida, and Louay Abu Rida. The organization said that attempts to storm and seize them began about four months ago, which prompted members of the families to take turns living in them to prevent their seizure.
Earlier, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli occupation army, Eyal Zamir, issued instructions to deploy a regular infantry battalion in Qusra, with the aim of "strengthening order and operational control" and preventing the continuation of what he described as "serious incidents".
In the eastern part of Jenin, Israeli forces tightened their military measures and closed all entrances and roundabouts along the bypass road from Haddad roundabout to Jalameh crossing, coinciding with preparations for the opening of the "Ganim" settlement and the start of occupancy, according to local sources quoted by the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
The sources said the closures were intended to secure the movement of settlers heading to the new settlement, but they caused disruption to the movement and transportation of Palestinians in the area.
In southeastern Bethlehem, a Palestinian family said that settlers attacked their home and farm in the town of Al-Minya at dawn on Thursday, stealing more than 100 sheep and a vehicle, and smashing another vehicle, before vandalizing the house and its contents.
The Jabarin family added that the settlers also destroyed the solar energy system that supplies the house with electricity and cut off the water line, while Israeli forces arrested three members of the family during the attack and took them to an unknown location.
The town of Al-Minya is witnessing repeated attacks by settlers, while the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) documented more than 1,330 settler attacks in the West Bank from the beginning of 2026 until July 23, resulting in injuries or property damage and affecting about 250 Palestinian communities.
According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, settlers carried out 12,506 attacks during the period from October 7, 2023 to June 30, 2026, resulting in the martyrdom of 52 Palestinians and the setting of 890 fires that affected Palestinian properties and fields.
The commission added that last July witnessed 2,256 attacks carried out by Israeli forces and settlers, including 1,458 attacks by Israeli forces and 798 by settlers.
The attacks include killings, arrests, demolition of homes and facilities, burning of mosques and vehicles, bulldozing of agricultural lands, preventing farmers from accessing their lands, displacement of Palestinians, and settlement expansion.
The United Nations considers the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to be occupied Palestinian territory, and the Israeli settlements established there are illegal under international law.
Palestinian and human rights groups warn that the escalating settler attacks and Israeli military measures aim to impose new settlement realities and force Palestinians to leave their homes and lands, thus undermining the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state.
