The media has been in an uproar for several days over an Arab from the murderous Palestinian village of Qusra who claims that “settlers are laying siege to his home.” The incident has developed into a major diplomatic clash, especially since one of the members of the Palestinian family holds US citizenship.

On Monday, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee issued a harsh condemnation. In response to a claim online that “Israeli settlers have been allowed to maintain a five-day siege of a Palestinian home belonging to a US citizen in the village of Qusra,” Huckabee wrote: “This is another lie. The US Embassy in Jerusalem has been VERY involved, and the IDF and Israel Police have gone at our request to remove the ‘Israeli terrorists’ doing this.”

It should be noted that the Palestinian homeowner at the center of the incident has been involved in multiple violent attacks on Jews.

Local Jewish residents reject the account that the house is under siege and argue that the picture being presented in the media and on social media is partial and detached from the security and regional context on the ground.

A source familiar with the details told JDN News that the house in question is not located within the built-up area of Qusra, but in a remote location on Jabal Ein Eina, which overlooks the entire Shiloh bloc and is considered a strategically significant point in the area. According to the source, the scattered Palestinian structures in the area were built as part of an effort by the Palestinian Authority and nearby villages to establish a foothold on the strategic mountain.

“There was no siege whatsoever on the house,” the source said, saying that the structure was erected nearby for Jewish shepherds to use for shade during the summer. He added that the residents of the house were able to enter and leave and that no one prevented their movement.

The IDF, however, presented the events in a serious light. According to an IDF spokesperson’s statement, the commander of Central Command, the commander of the Yehuda and Shomron Division, and the commander of the Yehuda and Shomron Border Police toured Qusra and the nearby outposts Wednesday morning. According to the IDF, a shed occupied by Israeli civilians had been erected near the house in Area B, in an area that had been declared a closed military zone. Border Police forces removed the shed and acted to remove the Jewish civilians who were at the site.

The commanders said they viewed seriously the actions that, according to the military, Israeli civilians had carried out against the family, and ordered additional measures to be taken. It was also decided to take disciplinary action against a military force that had been filmed at the site several days earlier.

The IDF had previously said that in recent weeks it had received reports of Israelis entering Palestinian homes and lands in the Qusra and Jalud area and attempting to take control of them. Following the reports and disturbances, the area was declared a closed military zone for anyone who is not a local resident.

The IDF also addressed an incident in which a group of Israeli civilians — left-wing provocateurs — were found inside a Palestinian ambulance in Qusra after attempting to use the medical vehicle to enter the closed area. They were searched by soldiers and later by Yehuda and Shomron District police officers.

Journalist Elchanan Groner criticized the IDF chief of staff’s decision to reinforce the area with an additional infantry battalion, asking why the battalion was not also being sent to confiscate illegal weapons in the village. He accused the IDF of adopting the agenda of organizations operating against the settlement movement while ignoring the incitement and terrorism that have emerged over the years from the murderous villages of Qusra and Jalud.

Groner also protested the decision to take disciplinary action against the military force that was filmed at the site alongside the youths, arguing that the defense establishment does not display similar resolve in cases in which soldiers use violence against hilltop youths or when memorials to terrorists are erected in the Shomron.

In addition, right-wing activist Elisha Yered shed light on the character of the homeowner claiming to be under siege, Qusai Abu Ridi.

In an account entitled: An Innocent Arab From the Village of Qusra Suffering From Settler Harassment? Here Are a Few Details They Forgot to Tell You, Yered wrote, “So, aside from the absurdity of the IDF spokesperson fully throwing its weight behind the settler-violence campaign, the fact that the siege doesn’t really exist at all, and the fact that this isn’t even part of the village but rather a house built as part of the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to seize the summit of Jabal Ein Eina, which overlooks the entire Shiloh bloc — the second-highest mountain in Shomron — here are a few details worth knowing about Qusai Abu Ridi, the new darling of left-wing organizations.”

“Let’s start with the incident in the attached photo. Abu Ridi and other rioters from the village carry out a brutal lynching of a Jewish shepherd. Three of them violently pinned him down, another pummeled him with his fists, and another terrorist raised a hoe toward his head. Yes, just like the videos from October 7.

“The shepherd escaped by the skin of his teeth and was released back to his home. In an unusual move, Abu Ridi was arrested following the violent attack due to the clear footage, but, absurdly, was later released back to his home.

“Abu Ridi never tires of pouring his heart out in interviews and talking about his young daughters, but it turns out that he also regularly hosts a few other charming guests at his home. Take, for example, these sweet children, wearing masks, who threw stones from Ridi’s home at Jewish hikers who were on their way to the nearby spring.

“And, of course, the violent attacks and stone-throwing quickly escalated to gunfire as well. About three weeks ago, terrorists in the vicinity of Abu Ridi’s home fired around ten shots, apparently from a handgun, toward the Tel Talpiot hilltop, located at the top of the mountain. The guard still managed to pull out his phone, record the final shot and alert IDF forces, but the terrorists did not—

“And here are the charming Arabs of the village of Qusra just a short while ago. Simply poor and miserable.”

“I’m sure these videos will also appear on this evening’s broadcasts on the propaganda channels,” Yered wryly concluded.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)