After weeks of settler siege, three new Israeli gates around Palestinian homes in Qusra raise fears among families stuck in their homes.
Qusra, occupied West Bank – When Israeli authorities set up three new roadblocks at the Ras al-Ain hill in the northern occupied West Bank village of Qusra on Wednesday, Abdel Hakim Wadi knew he was about to lose access to his land below once and for all.
The roadblocks’ gates – large yellow and orange metal bars placed on two large concrete blocks – are infamous in the West Bank. They’re placed at the entrances of many, if not most villages, and have multiplied since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023. The only ones holding the keys are the Israeli forces.
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Israeli soldiers had already placed a gate at the main entrance of Qusra itself, forcing Palestinians traveling into the village to take alternative routes – but often find those closed as well.
Three homes in this area of Qusra have been besieged by Israeli settlers since August 9, attracting global attention and condemnation. Israeli forces have declared the area a closed military zone, but have effectively continued the siege, with locals trapped in their homes.
And now, instead of lifting the siege, the roadblocks erected by the Israelis have been placed in carefully-selected locations.
“They are pushing the Israeli settlers 100 to 150 metres away from [our] houses, but now they have established checkpoints,” Wadi told Al Jazeera. “[It is] a much more permanent siege.”
Surrounding the hill
One of the gates was erected at the entrance of the house of Loui Ridi, a Palestinian-American who lives in Ohio, but who returned to Qusra to defend his property after the siege began. Israeli soldiers are stationed outside his home, which he has not been able to leave since his arrival on August 17.
Another roadblock is slightly further up the hill near a house under construction, and a third one is to the left side above a house that is being built.
All three barriers together encircle the top of the hill – and the homes on it – disconnecting it from the area below it.
Their presence also renders a road passing through the summit of the hill ineffective. The road not only connects the rest of Qusra with Ras al-Ain, but also links the village to the neighbouring villages of Talfit and Jalud.
Ridi said that Israeli settlers remain in the area surrounding his house, and the Israeli forces are still preventing him and his neighbours – a family including two little girls – from leaving and entering freely.
“We have been calling on the US embassy … or the international community to end the siege,” Ridi said.
Ridi has previously said that, despite the international condemnation of the actions of the Israeli settlers in Qusra – who cut off water and electricity from the besieged homes in their latest attack on a Palestinian community in the West Bank – little had been done.
“No one is doing enough on the ground,” he told Al Jazeera when he first arrived to Qusra from the US. “They’re talking, but there’s no action.”
No access to land
Wadi’s land, which he has not had access to since the siege began, is located close to where one of the new Israeli gates was placed.
He told Al Jazeera that his land – nearly one hectare – is planted with more than 100 olive trees, in addition to other trees, including almonds and figs. There is also a water well that Israeli settlers have taken over.
“I see them bathing in the water that they’re taking out from the well,” Wadi said.
Wadi now fears that the gates will prevent him from ever setting foot to on the land, even if the Israeli authorities remove the military zone designation in the future.
He expects Israel to keep the siege in place, but in a different manner.
“They will put on a show that they have ended the siege but in fact all of what they’re doing is replacing the settlers with the army,” Wadi said.
Israel’s ultimate goal, Wadi said, is to grab more land in the West Bank, piece by piece.
