'No law in Israel': Kusra residents report feeling 'helpless' in face of extremist settler violence

In the Palestinian village of Kusra, residents are feeling helpless as they face extremist settler violence, according to Marmar Odeh. The ongoing conflict has reached a point where Odeh described it as the first time in his life that he believed there was no law in the State of Israel. After the army withdrew, masked settlers entered Odeh's home, searched him, and checked his identification.

Tensions between Palestinian residents and Jewish extremist settlers in the West Bank escalated after a group of extremists imposed a makeshift siege on Kusra on Wednesday. During this period, a little girl in Odeh's family accidentally broke her arm, but she was unable to receive timely medical care due to the chaos. The settlers prevented the ambulance from taking her to the hospital, showcasing the extent of the power imbalance between the settlers and the local residents.

The settlers erected tents in the village, severed electricity and water cables, and created difficult living conditions for Odeh and Kusra's inhabitants. Odeh reported that the villagers cannot even open their windows due to the lack of electricity and have been without water for over two weeks. The Mayor of Kusra informed Qatari media outlet Al Jazeera that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have closed the village, imposed a curfew, and deployed numerous soldiers to dismantle the settler outpost.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir expressed the government's stance on the violence, stating that settlers involved in the Kusra violence need to be stopped. However, he admitted to admiring the settlers' efforts in building outposts. Yisrael Gantz, the head of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council and chairman of the Yesha Council, condemned the Kusra incident as "improper and unacceptable."

He emphasized that there is no justification for violence against uninvolved people or security forces, nor for establishing a hilltop outpost in a private yard, regardless of the house's legality or the settlers' intentions.