Israeli police have requested arrest warrants for settlers suspected of involvement in an attack on Palestinian residents in the village of Qusra on Saturday, according to an Israeli police source. The request follows a High Court of Justice directive requiring the state to respond by Wednesday to a petition filed by 10 Qusra residents. The petitioners are calling for the removal of settlers from the area, stricter enforcement of laws against them, and safe access to their homes and farmland.
The petition, submitted a day before the recent violence, also seeks the cancellation of a closure order imposed on the area. It contends that the order, while purportedly intended to maintain security, disproportionately restricts the movement of Palestinian residents rather than settlers. One petitioner reportedly remains effectively under siege, unable to leave freely, with family, visitors, and supplies subject to military coordination.
According to the petitioners, settlers have repeatedly entered Qusra in recent months, engaging in acts of violence and vandalism against residents and activists. They allege that settlers have broken into homes, damaged surveillance equipment, stolen property, set fire to a mosque and vehicles, and caused substantial damage to local infrastructure. The structure targeted in Saturday’s attack belongs to one of the petitioners, the filing states.
The petition further describes a systematic failure by Israeli authorities to hold perpetrators accountable. It includes video footage that reportedly shows Israeli soldiers interacting amicably with settlers, without demanding identification or requiring them to leave the area, sometimes withdrawing and leaving settlers behind. It also notes that many investigations into settler attacks have been closed on grounds that suspects could not be located, despite visual evidence to the contrary. Petitioners assert that their goal is not merely to regain physical access to their homes but to restore their right to live there safely and without harassment.
Meanwhile, settlers continue to reside in Qusra, including properties they have seized from Palestinians, and maintain a presence in the nearby village of Jalud, where the Tubasi family was displaced. The Israeli military’s closure order encompasses the outskirts of the Shiloh settlement bloc, surrounding the Tubasi family’s homes and extending to Mount Ein Eina near Qusra.
Outposts in the region appear to operate in a coordinated manner. On the night of the attack, masked settlers were filmed being transported from the Tubasi family’s yard to an outpost on Mount Ein Eina. During the transit, some settlers allegedly attacked and injured an NBC News correspondent and members of his team. Residents reported that settlers occupied three village structures that night; some fled via routes passing close to military posts and heavily guarded settlements after the attack. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) temporarily detained several Palestinians inside one of the attacked homes before releasing them at a distant location.
The IDF has maintained a permanent presence in Qusra and Jalud, both classified as Area B under the Oslo Accords, as part of operations to dismantle illegal outposts established by settlers. However, settlers have been documented moving openly on the mountain daily, even with soldiers nearby. The military has not responded to inquiries about its enforcement of the closure order barring Israeli civilians from the area.