Some 15 settlers entered the Palestinian village of Kusra in the West Bank again on Saturday, despite the fact that the IDF declared the area a closed military zone, Army Radio reported.
IDF troops arrived at the area where the Jewish extremists were gathered and read the closed military area order to the settlers, who then left the area, Army Radio reported later.
Palestinian residents who remain in the area told KAN News that they still feel threatened by Jewish extremists in the area.
“The army and the police are a few meters from here at a house under siege. You can see them in civilian clothes walking around and making their presence felt,” local resident Marmar Odeh told KAN.
“Before the army entered the homes, the settlers were moving around with pickup trucks, ATVs, sheep and goats, and now they have driven them away.”
Odeh told Reuters that he has been forced to erect metal fences around his home and bars on his windows to protect his family from attacks by militant settlers. Next to his home, the words ‘death to Arabs’ have been spray-painted in Hebrew on a wall.
Five months ago, Ouda said his nephew was shot and killed by a settler in an incident during which his brother was also injured.
He told KAN that his biggest concern is that if the IDF leaves the area, the settlers will ramp up their attacks on Palestinian homes in the area.
“They are still in the area. They are hiding, coming out from all kinds of places,” Odeh said. “They want to expel us, they want to kill us.”
Human rights groups say extremist settlers are mounting a concerted effort to seize more land, further eating into territory where Palestinians aim to establish a state.
“They are very provocatively going and literally taking over houses,” said Ezra Brownstein, a researcher for Rabbis for Human Rights.
IDF to probe soldiers’ conduct, decisions in probe on Kusra
The IDF sent an additional battalion to the village for reinforcement earlier this week. A military spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post on Friday that the IDF will be conducting a probe into the incident.
The probe will cover why it took the IDF 48 hours to evacuate the illegal outpost set up by Jewish extremists, and why the military did not remove the outpost a second time after the settlers returned.
“This was a serious incident, and it will be investigated,” the representative said.
According to Channel 12, the IDF will also look into the manner in which the Palestinian families of the town were evacuated on Thursday after being instructed to leave.
Tensions in the village began on Tuesday but escalated on Wednesday, when the settlers got into physical altercations with IDF soldiers after security forces evacuated a settler outpost.
Footage seen by the Post showed extremists dismantling fences, blocking roads, and surrounding the area.
The Post reported on Thursday that though the IDF has sufficient power and forces to have removed the Jewish extremists in hours or less, there are some form of limits on the force troops used, and some of the IDF forces did not fully cooperate in the mission.
Additionally, a senior military official told Army Radio this week that the forces refrained from arresting the settlers because “they are released after a short time anyway, and the police do not detain those who violate the closed military area order.”
IDF sources told the Post that military forces may remain in the area for an extended period, but did not say how long.
